BX  8711    .A7   B3  v. A 
Swedenborg,   Emanuel,  1688- 
1772  . 

The  Swedenborg  library 

fen  \ 

OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

Incorporated  A.  D  1850,  for  Printing,  Publishing,  and  Circi 
the  Theological  Works  of  Emanuel  Swedenborg,  for 
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lating 

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SWEDENBORG  LiBRARY. 

EDITED  BY 

B.  F.  BARRETT. 


Divine  Providence 

And  Its  Laws. 

FROM  THE 

WRITINGS  OF  EMANUEL  SWEDENBORG. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
E.CLAXTON  &  COMPANY, 

030  ilAKKET  Street, 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  iu  the  year  1878,  by 

CLAXTON,  REMSEN  &  HAFFELFINGER, 
in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE. 


MONG  all  the  beautiful  and  sublime  disclosures 


made  through  Sweden  borg,  few  are  more  interest- 


than  his  doctrine  concerning  the  Divine  Providence. 
Within  the  whole  compass  of  *^heological  literature  I 
know  of  nothing  to  be  compared  with  bis  treatise  on 
this  subject,  either  in  depth  of  wisdom,  breadth  of 
thought,  conclusiveness  of  reasoning,  or  capability  of 
satisfying  the  cravings  of  both  head  and  heart. 

The  author  shows,  with  a  degree  of  clearness  un- 
equalled by  any  other  writer,  that  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  blind  chance ;  that  the  universe  in  general, 
and  in  all  its  minutest  particulars,  is  governed  by 
infinite  Love  which  is  guided  in  all  its  operations  by 
an  infinite  Wisdom ;  that  the  great  end  of  creation  was 
a  heaven  of  angels  from  the  human  race  —  an  end 
which  Divine  Providence  is  perpetually  seeking ;  that 
this  end  is  pursued  not  blindly  nor  in  any  arbitrary 
manner,  but  in  conformity  to  the  eternal  laws  of  Di- 


iug  or  more  important  in  a  practical  point  of  view, 


iii 


iv 


EDITOR'S  PREFA  CE. 


vine  order  which  Providence  is  ever  striving  to  make 
men  understand  and  obey ;  that  among  the  many  and 
beautiful  laws  of  Divine  Providence  are  included  also 
the  laws  of  permission,  under  which  all  physical  and 
moral  evils  fall,  which  are  permitted  for  the  sake  of  a 
wise  and  beneficent  end. 

This  doctrine  of  the  Divine  Providence  assures  us  of 
the  Lord's  infinite  wisdom  and  mercy  in  all  that  He 
permits  us  to  suffer,  as  well  as  in  all  that  his  love  pro- 
vides. It  teaches  that  He  has  supreme  regard,  not  to 
our  present  and  temporal,  but  to  our  future  and  eter- 
nal, welfare  ;  that  if  He  permits  us  to  be  crucified  out- 
wardly, it  is  that  we  may  thereby  be  purified  inwardly; 
and  if  He  suffers  us  to  be  afflicted  in  time,  it  is  that  we 
may  thereby  be  made  happier  through  eternity.  It 
teaches  that  Infinite  Love  never  forsakes  one  human 
soul,  —  no,  not  even  in  that  soul's  darkest  or  guiltiest 
hour ;  that  this  Love  pursues  every  individual  through 
all  his  devious  wanderings,  —  sometimes  with  warning 
and  entreaty,  sometimes  with  rebuke  and  chastisement, 
—  always  yearning  to  save  and  bless;  that  it  orders  or 
permits  each  smallest  circumstance  of  our  lives,  and 
overrules  all  our  outward  ills  —  all  sicknesses,  disap- 
pointments, losses  and  sorrows,  for  our  highest  ulti- 
mate good. 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE. 


V 


Only  those  who  have  experienced  the  cheering  and 
strengthening  influence  of  this  doctrine  in  dark  hours 
and  amid  the  stern  trials  and  rough  conflicts  of  life, 
can  tell  how  replete  it  is  with  encouragement,  comfort 
and  support.  Addressing  itself  to  the  intellect  not  less 
than  to  the  heart,  it  leads  the  receiver  to  a  joyful  rec- 
ognition of  the  Divine  Wisdom  and  Love  in  every 
event,  and  so  holds  the  creature  in  perpetual  and 
loving  communion  with  its  Creator. 

The  present  volume  is  simply  an  abridgment  of 
Swedenborg's  "Angelic  Wisdom  concerning  the  Divine 
Providence."  Nothing  of  vital  importance,  however, 
has  been  omitted,  and  each  omission  h'as  been  indicated 
by  a  dash,  thus,  — .  As  in  previous  volumes,  the  au- 
thor's own  language  (except  in  the  headings  of  the 
chapters)  has  been  uniformly  given ;  but  his  method 
has  been  considerably  abbreviated  by  the  avoidance 
of  repetitions  as  far  as  practicable,  and  sometimes 
giving,  instead  of  quotations  from  Scripture,  simply 
references  to  chapter  and  verse.  It  is  believed  that  in 
this  abbreviated  form  the  work,  besides  being  consid- 
erably less  voluminous,  will  be  found  better  adapted  to 
the  general  reader  than  the  unabridged  work,  and  will 
give  him  an  equally  clear  idea  of  the  new  doctrine 
concerning  the  Divine  Providence. 
1* 


vl  EDITOR'S  PREFACE. 

And  it  is  the  Editor's  firm  belief,  that  any  thought- 
ful and  candid  person  who  will  read,  attentively,  three 
—  say,  the  last  three  —  chapters  of  this  work,  will  be 
constrained  to  acknowledge  that  the  spiritual  illumi- 
nation enjoyed  by  its  author  was  of  no  ordinary  kind. 
What  higher  wisdom,  indeed,  on  this  subject,  could 
reasonably  be  expected  to  come  down  from  the  heaven 
of  angels? 

B.  F.  B. 

Germantown,  Nov.  12,  1878. 


PAGE 

I.  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  IS  THE  GOVERNMENT 


OF  DIVINE  LOVE  AND  WISDOM       ...  15 

Manifestations  of  Divine  Wisdom  17 

Love  and  Wisdom  united  in  everything  .  .  .  .19 
The  good  of  love  is  not  good  unless  united  to  the  truth  of 

Wisdom  21 

Love  united  to  Wisdom  is  man's  life  .  .  .  .23 
The  chief  effort  of  the  Divine  Providence  is  to  keep  man 

in  good  and  truth  24 

The  union  of  good  and  truth  is  heaven  and  the  church  in 

man  28 


II.  THE  END  OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  IS  A 
HEAVEN  FROM  THE  HUMAN  RACE  ...  29 

Heaven  is  union  with  the  Lord   31 

Diflerent  degrees  of  this  union   34 

Man's  wisdom  increases  as  this  union  becomes  more  close  37 

Happiness  increases  in  a  like  ratio   40 

The  closer  this  union,  the  more  clearly  a  man  perceives 
tliat  he  is  the  Lord's,  yet  the  more  he  seems  to  be  his 

own   42 

III.  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  IN  ALL  ITS  AC- 
TIVITY REGARDS  THE  INFINITE  AND  ETER- 
NAL   45 

The  Infinite  is  not  in  time  or  space   46 

What  the  Infinite  and  Eternal  regards  in  the  finite  ,  48 
What  Divine  Providence  especially  regards    .       .  .49 


via  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

An  image  of  the  Infinite  and  Eternal  displayed  in  tlie 

angelic  heaven  53 

The  inmost  of  Divine  Providence  55 

IV.  THERE  ARE  LAWS  OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE 
UNKNOWN  TO  MAN  58 

V.  IT  IS  A  LAW  OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  THAT 
MAN  ACT  FROM  FREEDOM  ACCORDING  TO 
REASON  60 

The  two  essentially  human  faculties  .  .  .  .61 
Whatever  man  does  from  freedom  appears  to  him  as  his  own  63 
"Whatever  he  does  from  freedom,  is  appropriated  to  him 

and  remains  65 

Without  these  two  faculties  reformation  and  regeneration 

were  impossible  68 

How  far  man,  by  means  of  these  faculties,  can  be  regen- 
erated  69 

How  the  Lord's  union  with  man  is  effected  .  .  .73 
The  Lord  continually  guards  these  faculties  in  man  as 

sacred  77 

It  is  of  Providence,  therefore,  that  man  should  act  from 
freedom  according  to  reason  80 

VI.  THE  LAW  ACCORDING  TO  WHICH  THE  LORD 
REMOVES  EVILS  FR031  THE  INTERNAL  AND 
EXTERNAL  MAN  82 

Every  man  has  an  internal  and  external  of  thought  .  84 
The  external  is  of  the  same  character  as  the  internal  .  86 
The  internal  cannot  be  cleansed  while  evils  remain  in 

the  external  man  90 

The  Lord  cannot  remove  evils  in  the  external,  without 

man's  co-operation  92 

Man  ought,  therefore,  as  of  himself  to  remove  evils  from 

liis  external  man  94 

It  is  the  constant  effort  of  Divine  Providence  to  unite 

man  to  Himself  96 


COiVTEXTS.  ix 

PAGE 

VII.  IT  ISA  LAW  OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  THAT 
MANS  THOUGHT  AND  WILL  IN  MATTERS  OF 
RELIGION,  SHOULD  NOT  BE  COMPELLED  BY 
EXTERNAL  MEANS  102 

No  one  is  reformed  by  miracles  or  signs  .  .  .  103 
No  one  is  reformed  by  visions  or  conversations  with  the 

departed  106 

No  one  is  reformed  by  threats  or  punishments  .  .  108 
No  one  is  reformed  in  states  that  are  not  of  rationality 

and  liberty   113 

Self-compulsion  is  not  contrary  to  rationality  and  lib- 
erty  119 

The  external  man  must  be  reformed  through  the  internal.  122 

VIII.  IT  IS  A  LAW  OF  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE 
THAT  MAN  BE  LED  AND  TAUGHT  BY  THE 
LORD  THROUGH  THE  WORD      .        .       .  .126 

Man  is  led  and  taught  by  the  Lord  through  and  from  the 
angelic  heaven  130 

He  is  led  of  the  Lord  by  influx  and  taught  by  enlighten- 
ment 133 

He  is  taught  by  the  Lord  tlirough  the  Word  and  doctrine 
derived  from  it  138 

He  is  led  and  taught  by  the  Lord  to  all  appearance  as  of 
himself  141 

IX.  IT  IS  A  LAW  OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  THAT 
MAN  SHOULD  HA  VE  NO  SENSE  OF  ITS  OPER- 
ATION  143 

Why  man  is  insensible  to  the  operation  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence; and  why  foreknowledge  is  denied  liim     .       .  144 

If  man  clearly  saw  the  Divine  Providence,  he  would  in- 
terfere witli  and  prevent  its  orderly  course  .       .       .  147 

If  he  clearly  saw  it,  he  would  either  deny  God,  or  make 
himself  God   150 

Man  is  permitted  to  see  the  back  but  not  tlie  face  of 
Providence  154 


X 


CONTENTS. 


PAOE 

X.  MAN'S  OWN  PRUDENCE  IS  NOTHTNG ;  BUT 
THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE,  SINCE  IT  IS  IN 


THE  LEAST  PARTICULARS,  IS  UNIVERSAL  .  156 
All  of  man's  thoughts  are  from  the  affections  of  his  life's 

love  157 

These  affections  are  known  only  to  the  Lord  .  .  .  159 
Providential  arrangement  of  the  affections  of  our  race 

into  the  human  form  161 

Heaven  and  hell  in  this  form  ;  and  who  constitute  the  one, 

and  who  the  other  1C5 

The  secret  workings  of  Providence  167 


XI.  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  REGARDS  THINGS 
ETERNAL,  AND  THINGS  TEMPORAL  ONLY  SO 
FAR  AS  THEY  HARMONIZE  WITH  THESE       .  170 

The  love  of  dignities  and  riches  for  their  own  sake ;  also 
for  the  sake  of  use  172 

Eternal  things  relate  to  spiritual  honors  and  wealth, 
which  belong  to  heaven  176 

Temporal  and  eternal  things  are  separated  by  man,  but 
united  by  the  Lord  ISl 

This  union  in  man  is  the  Lord's  Providence    .      .       .  183 


XII.  HOW  FAR  MAN  IS  ADMITTED  INTERIORLY 
INTO  THE  TRUTH  OF  FAITH  AND  THE  GOOD 
OF  CHARITY  189 

Man  may  be  admitted  into  the  knowledge  and  love  of 
spiritual  things,  without  being  reformed      .       .       .  189 

If  afterwards  he  recedes  from  and  opposes  them,  he  pro- 
fanes what  is  holy.  192 

Several  kinds  of  profanation,  but  this  is  the  worst  of 
all  198 

Therefore  the  Lord  does  not  admit  man  into  truth  and 
good  further  than  he  can  be  kept  permanently    .        .  206 


CONTENTS.  xi 

PAGE 

XIII.  LA  WS  OF  PERMISSION  ARE  ALSO  LA  WS  OF 

THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  213 

Permission  of  Adam's  and  Eve's  temptation  and  fall      .  214 

Permission  of  the  murder  of  Abel  by  Cain     .       .       .  215 
^    Permission  of  the  worship  of  a  golden  calf  in  the  wil- 
derness  216 

Permission  of  the  establishment  of  idolatrous  worship  by 
Solomon  217 

Permission  of  the  profanation  of  the  temple  by  kings  who 
succeeded  him      .       .  218 

Permission  of  the  crucifixion  of  the  Saviour  .       .       .  219 

How  self-  and  nature-worshipers  confirm  themselves 
against  Divine  Providence  :  —  219 

When  they  see  that  deception  often  succeeds,  and  injus- 
tice triumphs  220 

When  they  see  the  wicked  exalted  to  honors,  and  the 
worshipers  of  God  in  contempt  and  poverty        .       .  221 

When  they  see  that  wars  are  permitted,  and  so  many 
people  slaughtered  and  plundered        ....  224 

When  they  reflect  that  victory  is  on  the  side  of  prudence, 
and  sometimes  not  on  that  of  justice    ....  227 

The  natural  man  confirms  himself  against  it,  when  he 
looks  at  the  religious  condition  of  various  nations,  as 
of  some  who  worship  the  sun  and  moon,  also  graven 
images  229 

When  he  sees  how  extensively  the  Mohammedan  religion 
prevails  232 

When  he  sees  that  the  Christian  religion  is  accepted  by 
so  few  comparatively  235 

When  he  sees  that  some  in  Christendom  claim  Divine 
power,  and  wish  to  be  worshiped         ....  237 

When  he  sees  that  some  Christians  place  salvation  in  the 
repetition  of  certain  formulas,  and  not  in  doing  good  .  240 

When  he  sees  how  many  and  great  heresies  there  have 
been  and  are  in  Christendom       ...  .  243 


xii 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

When  he  sees  that  Judaism  still  continues  .  .  .  245 
A  doubt  maybe  inferred  against  Divine  Providence: — 

From  the  fiict  that  all  Christendom  worships  one  God 

under  three  Persons     .......  247 

From  the  fact  that  men  have  not  hitherto  known  that 

there  is  a  spiritual  sense  in  all  parts  of  the  Word  .  249 
From  the  fact  that  men  have  not  hitherto  known  that  to 

sliun  evils  as  sins  is  the  Christian  religion  itself  .  .  252 
From  the  fact  tliat,  hitherto  it  has  not  been  known  that 

men  live  as  men  after  death  ...  .       .  253 


XIV.  EVILS  ARE  PEmilTTED  FOR  THE  SAKE  OF 
THE  END,  WHICH  IS  SALVATION      .       .  .256 
Hereditary  evil ;  —  which  man  must  be  led  out  of,  when 

he  is  reformed  257 

Evils  cannot  be  removed  unless  they  appear    ,       .       .  259 
So  far  as  evils  are  removed,  they  are  forgiven  .       .       .  264 
Evil  permitted  on  account  of  the  end,  which  is  salva- 
tion   •       .  270 


XV.  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  EXISTS  ALIKE  WITH 

THE  WICKED  AND  THE  GOOD    .       .       .  .273 

Divine  Providence  is  universal  in  the  most  minute  par- 
ticulars  273 

The  wicked  continually  lead  themselves  into  evils,  but 
the  Lord  is  continually  leading  them  out     .       .       .  277 

But  they  cannot  be  wholly  led  out  of  evil,  and  into 
good,  while  they  believe  their  own  intelligence  is  every 
thing,  and  Divine  Providence  nothing  ....  285 

The  wicked  in  the  world  are  internally  associated  with 
evil  spirits;  yet  the  Lord  governs  them  as  to  their  in- 
teriors  288 


CONTENTS. 


xiii 


PAGE 

XVI.  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  APPROPRIATES  NEI- 
THER EVIL  NOR  GOOD  TO  ANY  ONE;  BUT 
MAN'S  OWN  PRUDENCE  APPROPRIATES  BOTH  289 

What  self-derived  prudence  is,  and  prudence  not  self- 
derived   290 

"What  a  man,  bj  self-derived  prudence,  persuades  himself 
of,  and  confirms  himself  in   .       .       .       .       .       .  293 

Everything  in  which  a  man  becomes  confirmed,  remains 
as  his  own  295 

Importance  of  believing  that  everything  good  and  true 
is  from  the  Lord,  and  everything  evU  and  false,  from 
heU  302 

XVII.  EVERY  3IAN  MAY  BE  REFORMED,  AND 
THERE  IS  NO  PREDESTINATION  TO  HELL      .  307 

The  end  of  creation  is  a  heaven  from  the  human  race  .  309 
Divine  Providence  wills  the  salvation  of  all ;  and  they 

are  saved  who  acknowledge  God  and  live  well  .  .  314 
Man  himself  is  to  blame  if  he  is  not  saved  .  .  .  820 
All  are,  therefore,  predestined  to  heaven,  and  none  to 

Jiell  325 

XVIII.  THE  LORD  CANNOT  ACT  CONTRARY  TO 
THE  LAWS  OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE,  FOR 
THIS  WOULD  BE  ACTING  CONTRARY  TO 
HIMSELF  332 

Ceaseless  operation  of  Divine  Providence  to  save  man, 

from  the  cradle  to  the  grave  333 

This  operation  is  carried  on  unremittingly,  from  pure 

mercy  336 

Instantaneous  salvation  from  immediate  mercy,  is  not 

possible  339 

The  belief  in  such  salvation  is  the  fiery  flying  serpent  in 

the  church  346 

2 


AND 

ITS  LAWS. 


DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  IS  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF 
DIVINE  LOVE  AND  WISDOM. 

M&S«j|^jjE  government  of  the  Lord's  Divine  Love 
J;^  and  Wisdom  is  what  is  called  the  Divine 
tgil  Providence. —  The  Lord  from  eternity,  who  is 
^^^^WP  Jehovah,  is  in  his  essence  Divine  Love  and 
Wisdom  ;  and  He  created  the  entire  universe  from 
Himself.  From  this  it  follows  that  the  universe  in  all 
its  particulars  was  created  from  the  Divine  Love  by  the 
Divine  Wisdom. 

Love  can  do  nothing  without  wisdom,  neither  can 
wisdom  do  anything  without  love ;  for  love  without 
wisdom,  or  the  will  without  the  understanding,  cannot 
think,  see,  feel,  or  say  anything,  and  therefore  cannot 
do  anything ;  and  in  like  manner  wisdom  without  love, 
or  the  understanding  without  the  will ;  for  if  love  be 
takeu  away,  there  is  no  longer  any  volition,  nor  there- 

15 


16 


THE  SWEDEXnORG  LTBRAnY. 


fore  any  action.  And  since  there  is  such  a  union  in 
man  in  everything  he  does,  how  much  more  did  it  exist 
in  God,  who  is  absolute  Love  and  Wisdom,  when  He 
created  the  universe  and  all  things  therein. 

That  the  whole  universe  was  created  from  the  Divine 
Love  by  the  Divine  "Wisdom,  may  be  proved  by  every 
visible  object  in  the  world.  Select  any  object  of  a  spe- 
cies, examine  it  with  some  degree  of  wisdom,  and  you 
will  be  convinced.  Take  a  tree,  or  seed,  its  fruit, 
flower,  or  leaf ;  exercise  your  wisdom,  and  examine  it 
■with  a  good  microscope,  and  you  will  discover  won- 
derful things  in  it,  while  its  interior  parts  which  you 
do  not  see  are  still  more  wonderful.  Observe  the  order 
in  the  growth  of  a  tree  from  seed  to  seed  again,  and 
consider  whether  there  is  not  in  every  successive  stage 
a  continual  effort  to  propagate  itself  further ;  for  the 
last  thing  to  which  it  tends  is  seed,  wherein  its  prolific 
principle  exists  anew. 

If  you  then  reflect  upon  it  spiritually  also,  which  you 
can  do  if  you  choose,  will  you  not  see  wisdom  mani- 
fested in  it?  Nay,  more;  if  you  will  reflect  upon  it 
spiritually  to  a  sufficient  degree,  you  will  see  that  this 
prolific  principle  is  not  from  the  seed,  nor  fi"om  the  sun 
of  this  world,  which  is  pure  fire,  but  that  it  exists  in 
the  seed  from  God  the  Creator,  whose  wisdom  is  infi- 
nite, and  is  in  it  not  only  when  created,  but  also  contin- 
ually afterwards  (for  preservation  is  perpetual  creation, 
as  subsistence  is  perpetual  existence)  ;  just  as,  if  you 
take  will  from  action,  action  ceases ;  or  take  thought 


DIVINE  WISDOM  MANIFEST. 


17 


from  speech,  speech  ceases.  —  Every  created  thing, 
indeed,  is  endowed  with  a  power  that  acts  not  from 
itself,  but  from  that  which  imparted  it. 

Look  also  at  some  other  object  on  earth,  a  silkworm, 
a  bee,  or  other  insect,  and  examine  it  first  naturally, 
then  rationally,  and  at  last  spiritually;  and  then,  if  you 
are  capable  of  profound  thought,  you  will  be  astonished 
at  all  your  discoveries.  And  if  you  allow  wisdom  a 
voice  in  you,  you  will  say  in  astonishment.  Who  does 
not  see  the  Divine  iu  these  things  ?  They  are  all  the 
work  of  the  Divine  Wisdom.  Still  more  will  you 
wonder,  if  you  consider  the  uses  of  all  created  things, 
their  orderly  ascent  to  man,  and  from  man  to  their 
origin  in  the  Creator. —  Love  does  nothing  except  iu 
union  with  wisdom.  Spiritual  heat  and  light  in  pro- 
ceeding from  the  Lord  as  a  sun  make  one,  as  Divine 
Love  and  Wisdom  in  the  Lord  are  one.  But  as  it  is 
not  known  how  two  distinct  things  can  act  as  one,  I 
here  desire  to  show  that  unity  is  impossible  without 
form,  but  that  form  itself  causes  unity,  and  makes  it 
the  more  perfect  in  proportion  as  the  constituents  of 
the  form  are  distinct  and  different,  and  yet  united. 

Unity  is  impossible  without  form,  hut  form  itself  causes 
unity.  Whoever  thinks  carefully  can  see  that  unity 
does  not  exist  without  form,  and  if  it  does  exist,  that  it 
is  form ;  for  whatever  exists  derives  from  form  that 
which  is  called  quality,  that  which  may  be  predicated 
of  it,  change  of  state,  its  relation  to  other  things,  and 
so  on.  And  therefore  that  which  has  no  form  is  iuca- 
2*  B 


18 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBIiARY. 


pable  of  any  state,  and  that  which  is  incapable  of  state 
is  incapable  of  anything  whatever.  Form  itself  im- 
parts all  these ;  and  as  all  things  in  a  form  are  recipro- 
cally related  as  link  to  link  in  a  chain  if  the  form  is 
perfect,  it  follows  that  form  itself  constitutes  the  unity, 
and  thus  the  subject  of  which  quality,  state,  condition, 
and  so  on,  may  be  predicated  according  to  the  perfec- 
tion of  the  form.  Such  a  unit  is  everything  seen  in 
the  world,  and  also  everything  unseen,  whether  in  inte- 
rior nature  or  in  the  spiritual  world.  Such  a  unit  is 
man,  human  society,  the  church,  the  whole  angelic 
heaven  before  the  Lord,  and  iu  short,  the  created  uni- 
verse, not  only  in  the  whole  but  also  in  every  partic- 
ular. That  all  things  may  be  forms.  He  who  created 
tliem  must  be  Form  itself;  and  they  must  have  their 
forms  from  this  Form. 

Form  makes  the  unity  more  perfect  in  proportion  as  the 
constituents  of  thefonn  are  distinct  and  different,  and  yet 
united.  This  can  hardly  be  comprehended  unless  the 
understanding  is  elevated,  since  the  appearance  is,  that 
form  can  produce  unity  only  by  the  similarity  and 
equality  of  the  constituents  of  the  form.  On  this 
subject  I  have  often  conversed  with  angels,  who  called 
it  an  arcanum  clearly  understood  by  the  wise  among 
them,  and  but  little  comprehended  by  the  less  wise. 
Yet  they  said  it  was  a  truth,  that  form  is  more  perfect 
iu  proportion  as  the  things  that  make  it  are  distinct 
and  different,  and  yet  united  in  a  particular  manner. 
This  they  confirmed  by  the  societies  of  heaven,  which 


TUE  DIVINE  IN  EVERYTHING.  19 

taken  together  constitute  its  form ;  and  by  the  angels 
of  every  society,  whose  form  is  more  perfect  in  propor- 
tion as  each  angel  is  more  distinctly  his  own,  and  there- 
fore free,  and  loves  his  fellow-angels  as  from  himself 
and  his  own  afiection.  They  illustrated  it  also  by  the 
marriage  of  the  good  and  true,  which  can  the  more 
perfectly  make  one  in  proportion  as  they  are  the  more 
distinctly  two.  It  is  the  same  with  love  and  wisdom ; 
the  indistinct  is  confused,  and  is  the  origin  of  every 
imperfection  of  form.  But  how  things  perfectly  dis- 
tinct are  united  and  so  make  one,  they  also  confirmed 
by  many  things ;  chiefly  by  the  human  frame,  wherein 
innumei-able  things  are  so  distinct  by  their  coverings, 
and  yet  united  by  their  ligaments. — 

The  Divine  is  in  every  created  thing,  because  God 
the  Creator,  who  is  the  Lord  from  eternity,  produced 
from  Himself  the  Sun  of  the  spiritual  world,  and  by 
means  of  that  Sun  the  whole  universe ;  consequently 
that  Sun  which  is  from  the  Lord,  and  in  which  He  is, 
is  not  merely  the  first  but  the  only  substance,  from 
which  all  things  are;  and  inasmuch  as  it  is  the  only 
substance,  it  follows  that  it  is  in  every  created  thing, 
but  with  infinite  variety  according  to  uses. 

Now  because  there  are  Divine  Love  and  Wisdom  in 
the  Lord,  and  Divine  fire  and  brightness  in  the  sun 
from  Him,  and  spiritual  heat  and  light  from  that  sun, 
and  these  two  make  one,  it  follows  that  this  unity  exists 
in  a  certain  image  in  every  created  thing.  Hence  all 
things  in  the  universe  relate  to  the  good  and  true  and 


20  THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 

tlieir  union  ;  or  what  is  the  same,  to  love  and  wisdom  and 
their  union  —  for  love  calls  all  that  pertains  to  it  good, 
and  wisdom  calls  all  that  pertains  to  it  true.  Their 
union  exists  in  every  created  thing. — 

The  simpler  and  purer  anything  is,  the  more  full  and 
complete  it  is.  This  is  why  the  more  interiorly  any 
object  is  examined,  the  more  wonderful,  perfect  and 
beautiful  are  the  things  seen  in  it ;  and  why  the  most 
wonderful,  perfect  and  beautiful  of  all  are  in  the  first 
substance.  This  is  because  the  first  substance  is  from 
the  spiritual  Sun,  which,  as  was  said,  is  from  the  Lord, 
and  in  which  He  is ;  and  so  that  Sun  itself  is  that  only 
substance  which,  as  it  is  not  in  space,  is  all  in  all,  and  in 
the  greatest  and  least  things  in  the  created  universe. — 

It  is  the  purpose  of  Divine  Providence,  that  in  every 
created  thing  there  shall  be  something  from  the  Divine 
Love,  together  with  something  from  the  Divine  Wis- 
dom ;  or,  what  is  the  same,  that  in  every  created  thing 
tliere  shall  be  good  and  truth,  or  the  union  of  the  good 
and  the  true. — 

These  three  things  must  be  premised:  First:  In  the 
universe  and  in  all  parts  of  it,  which  were  created  by 
the  Lord,  there  was  a  marriage  of  the  good  and  the 
true.  Second :  This  marriage  was  severed  in  man  after 
creation.  Third:  It  is  the  purpose  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence, that  what  was  severed  shall  be  united,  and  that 
the  marriage  of  the  good  and  the  true  shall  thus  be 
restored.  Any  one  may  rationally  see  that,  as  there 
was  a  marriage  of  the  good  and  true  from  creation  in 


TA'/O.V  OF  THE  GOOD  AXD  TRUE. 


21 


every  created  thing,  and  as  it  was  afterwards  severed, 
the  Lord  must  continually  endeavor  to  restore  it ;  and 
consequently  that  this  restoration,  and  by  it  the  union 
of  the  created  universe  with  the  Lord  through  man,  is 
the  purpose  of  the  Divine  Providence. 

The  good  of  love  is  not  good  except  so  far  as  it  is  united 
to  the  truth  of  imdom;  and  the  truth  of  ivisdom  is  not 
truth  except  so  far  as  it  is  united  to  the  good  of  love. 
The  good  and  true  derive  this  from  their  origin ;  the 
good  in  its  origin  being  in  the  Lord,  and  likewise  the 
true ;  because  He  is  the  absolutely  good  and  true,  and 
these  two  in  Him  are  one.  Hence  the  good  in  angels 
in  heaven  and  men  on  earth,  is  not  good  in  itself  except 
so  far  as  it  is  united  to  the  true ;  and  the  true  is  not 
true  in  itself  except  so  far  as  it  is  united  to  the  good. 
Everything  good  and  true  is  known  to  be  from  the 
Lord.  Hence,  as  the  good  makes  one  with  the  true 
and  the  true  with  the  good,  it  follows  that  the  good  to 
be  good  in  itself,  and  the  true  to  be  true  in  itself,  must 
make  one  in  the  recipient ;  that  is,  in  an  angel  in  heaven 
and  a  man  on  earth. 

It  is  indeed  known  that  all  things  in  the  universe 
relate  to  the  good  and  the  true,  because  by  the  good  is 
understood  that  which  universally  embraces  and  in- 
volves all  that  belongs  to  love,  and  by  the  true  that 
which  universally  embraces  and  involves  all  that  be- 
longs to  wisdom.  But  it  is  not  yet  known  that  the 
good  is  nothing  unless  united  to  the  true,  nor  the  true 
anything  unless  united  to  the  good. —  Being  is  nothing 


22 


THE  SWEDENDORG  LIBRARY. 


without  Existence,  and  Existence  nothing  without 
Being ;  so  the  good  without  the  true,  and  the  true 
without  the  good,  are  nothing. 

Consider,  in  like  manner,  what  the  good  is  without 
relation  to  some  subject.  Can  it  be  called  good,  not 
being  an  object  either  of  affection  or  perception  ?  But 
this  subject,  together  with  the  good  which  is  oiJerative, 
making  itself  perceived  and  felt,  relates  to  the  true, 
because  to  what  is  in  the  understanding.  Speak  to 
any  one  merely  of  the  good,  without  specifying  whether 
this  or  that  is  good,  and  is  the  good  anything?  But 
by  means  of  this  or  that,  which  is  perceived  as  one 
with  the  good,  it  is  something.  This  is  united  to  the 
good  only  in  the  understanding,  and  the  whole  under- 
standing relates  to  the  true.  It  is  the  same  with  voli- 
tion, which,  without  the  knowledge,  perception  and 
thought  of  what  a  man  wills,  is  nothing;  but  with 
these  it  becomes  something.  All  volition  belongs  to 
love  and  relates  to  the  good ;  and  all  knowledge,  per- 
ception and  thought  belong  to  the  understanding  and 
relate  to  the  true.  Obviously,  therefore,  mere  volition 
is  nothing ;  but  volition  with  reference  to  this  or  that 
is  something. 

It  is  the  same  with  all  use,  because  use  is  the  good. 
Unless  determined  to  something  with  which  it  may  be 
one,  it  is  not  use,  and  thus  it  is  nothing.  It  derives 
from  the  understanding  its  existence  as  something ;  and 
that  which  is  united  with  or  added  to  it  from  the  un- 
derstanding relates  to  the  true,  and  from  it  the  '  use 


LOVE  IS  MA.fS  IX MOST  LIFE. 


23 


derives  its  quality.  From  these  brief  statements  it  is 
evident  that  the  good  without  the  true  is  nothing,  and 
the  true  without  the  good  is  nothing. 

Love  is  the  life  of  man ;  but  not  love  separated 
from  wisdom,  or  the  good  separated  from  the  true, 
in  the  cause :  since  love  or  the  good  when  separated 
is  nothing.  Therefore  the  love  that  is  man's  inmost 
life,  which  is  from  the  Lord,  is  love  and  wisdom 
together :  even  the  love  that  is  man's  life  so  far  as  he 
is  a  recipient,  is  not  a  love  separated  in  the  cause  but 
in  the  efiect ;  for  love  cannot  be  understood  apart  from 
its  quality,  and  its  quality  is  wisdom.  This  quality  or 
wisdom  cannot  exist  except  from  its  own  being,  which 
is  love ;  therefore  they  are  one.  It  is  the  same  with 
the  good  and  the  true.  Now  because  the  true  is  from 
the  good,  as  wisdom  is  from  love,  therefore  both  taken 
together  are  called  love  or  the  good  ;  for  love  in  its 
form  is  wisdom,  and  the  good  in  its  form  is  the  true ; 
and  from  form  and  from  no  other  source  is  all  quality. 
It  is  therefore  evident  that  the  good  is  in  no  degree 
good  except  so  far  as  it  is  united  to  its  own  truth ;  and 
the  true  is  in  no  degree  true  except  so  far  as  it  is  united 
to  its  own  good. — 

The  truth  is,  there  is  no  good  that  is  good  in  itself, 
unless  united  to  its  own  truth  ;  nor  any  truth  essentially 
true,  unless  united  to  its  own  good.  Nevertheless  there 
is  a  good  separate  from  truth  and  a  truth  separate  from 
good.  These  prevail  in  hypocrites  and  flatterers,  in 
the  wicked  of  whatever  class,  and  in  those  who  are  in 


24 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


natural  and  not  in  spiritual  good.  Both  these  classes 
can  do  good  to  the  church,  their  country,  society,  their 
fellow-citizens,  the  poor  and  needy,  the  widow  and  the 
orphan ;  and  can  also  understand  truth,  from  under- 
standing think  it,  and  from  thought  speak  and  teach 
it ;  but  still  such  good  and  truth  are  not  interior,  that  is, 
not  real  good  and  truth,  but  are  exterior,  that  is,  only 
apparent ;  for  they  are  only  from  worldly  and  selfish 
motives,  and  not  for  the  sake  of  good  itself  and  truth  it- 
self, and  therefore  are  not  derived  from  good  and  truth, 
being  only  of  the  mouth  and  body,  and  not  of  the  heart. 
They  may  be  likened  to  gold  and  silver  covering  dross 
or  rotten  wood. — 

The  chief  end  and  effort  of  the  Lord's  Divine  Provi- 
dence is,  that  man  may  be  in  the  good  and  the  true  at 
the  same  time,  as  he  is  thus  his  own  good  or  love,  and 
his  own  truth  or  wisdom  ;  for  by  this  man  is  man,  since 
he  is  then  the  Lord's  image.  But  because  while  living 
in  the  world  he  may  be  in  the  good  and  in  the  false 
at  the  same  time,  and  also  in  the  evil  and  in  the  true 
at  the  same  time,  nay,  even  in  the  evil  and  at  the  same 
time  in  the  good,  and  thus,  as  it  were,  a  double  man, 
and  because  this  division  destroys  that  image  and  so 
destroys  the  man,  therefore  the  Lord's  Divine  Provi- 
dence in  all  its  operations  seeks  to  prevent  this  division. 
Moreover,  because  it  is  better  for  man  to  be  in  the  evil 
and  at  the  same  time  in  the  false  than  to  be  in  the  good 
and  in  the  evil  at  the  same  time,  therefore  the  Lord 
permits  it,  not  as  if  it  were  his  will,  but  as  being  unable 


THE  DIVIXE  INABILITY. 


25 


to  prevent  it  consistently  with  the  end  which  is  salva- 
tion. 

This  possibility  of  man's  being  in  the  evil  and  in  the 
true  at  the  same  time,  and  this  Divine  inability  to  pre- 
vent it  consistently  with  the  end  —  salvation  —  are 
owing  to  man's  ability  to  elevate  his  understanding 
to  the  light  of  wisdom,  and  to  see  truths  or  acknowledge 
them  when  he  hears  them,  while  his  love  remains  below ; 
for  he  can  thus  be  in  heaven  as  to  his  understanding, 
but  in  hell  as  to  his  love ;  and  to  be  so  cannot  be  denied 
him,  because  he  cannot  be  deprived  of  these  two  facul- 
ties, rationality  and  liberty,  whereby  he  is  man  and  is 
distinguished  from  the  beasts,  and  by  which  alone  he 
can  be  regenerated  and  saved.  For  by  these  he  can  act 
according  to  wisdom,  and  also  according  to  a  love  not 
of  wisdom  ;  and  from  the  wisdom  above  can  see  the  love 
below,  and  thus  see  his  thoughts,  intentions  and  affec- 
tions, and  whatever  is  evil  and  false  or  good  and  true  in 
his  life  and  doctrine,  without  a  knowledge  and  acknowl- 
edgment of  which  in  himself  he  cannot  be  reformed. — 

In  this  world  man  can  hardly  enter  into  the  one  or 
the  other  union, —  that  is,  of  the  good  and  true,  or  of 
the  evil  and  false ;  for  so  long  as  he  lives  here  he  is 
kept  in  a  state  of  reformation  or  regeneration.  But 
every  man  enters  into  one  or  the  other  after  death, 
because  then  he  can  no  longer  be  reformed  or  regener- 
ated, remaining  then  such  as  his  life  —  that  is,  his 
ruling  love  —  has  been  in  the  world.  If  his  life,  there- 
fore, has  been  a  life  of  the  love  of  evil,  he  is  deprived 
3 


26 


THE  S  WED  EX  B  OR  G  L  IliRA  It  Y. 


of  all  the  truth  he  has  acquired  in  the  world  from 
teachers,  preaching  or  the  Word ;  and  then  he  imbibes, 
as  a  sponge  soaks  up  water,  the  falsity  agreeing  with 
his  evil  and  the  evil  agreeing  with  his  falsity.  But  if 
it  has  been  a  life  of  the  love  of  good,  there  is  a  re- 
moval of  all  that  is  false  which  he  has  acquired  in 
the  world  by  hearing  or  reading,  and  which  he  has  not 
confirmed  in  himself,  and  in  its  place  is  imparted  the 
truth  agreeing  with  his  good.  This  is  meant  by  these 
words  of  the  Lord :  "  Take  therefore  the  talent  from 
him,  and  give  it  unto  him  which  hath  ten  talents ; 
for  unto  every  one  that  hath  shall  be  given,  and  he 
shall  have  abundance ;  but  from  him  that  hath  not, 
shall  be  taken  away  even  that  which  he  hath."  Matt. 
XXV.  28,  29 ;  xiii.  12 ;  Mark  iv.  25 ;  Luke  viii.  18. 

Every  one  after  death  must  be  either  in  the  good  and 
true  at  the  same  time,  or  in  the  evil  and  false  ;  because 
the  good  and  the  evil  cannot  be  united,  nor  the  good 
and  at  the  same  time  the  false  of  evil,  nor  the  evil  and 
at  the  same  time  the  truth  of  good ;  for  they  are  oppo- 
sites,  and  opposites  combat  each  other  until  one  destroys 
the  other. 

What  is  evil  and  at  the  same  time  false,  is  nothing — 
that  is,  it  has  no  power  and  no  spiritual  life.  Those 
who  are  in  the  evil  and  false  at  the  same  time, —  who 
are  all  in  hell, —  have  power  among  themselves,  indeed  ; 
for  a  wicked  man  can  do  evil  and  does  evil  in  a  thousand 
ways,  but  can  do  it  only  to  the  wicked  from  a  principle 
of  wickedness,  and  can  by  no  means  injure  the  good. 


SPIIifTUAL  EAGLES. 


27 


except,  as  sometimes  happens,  by  union  with  their  evil. 
This  is  the  source  of  temptations,  which  are  infestations 
from  the  evils  in  men  and  consequent  conflicts,  by  which 
the  good  may  be  freed  from  their  evils.  Since  the 
wicked  have  no  power,  the  universal  hell  in  the  Lord's 
sight  is  not  only  as  nothing,  but  absolutely  is  nothing 
as  to  power  —  as  I  have  seen  proved  by  abundant  expe- 
rience. 

But  it  is  wonderful  that  all  the  wicked  suppose  them- 
selves powerful,  and  all  the  good  suppose  themselves 
powerless.  This  is  because  the  wicked  attribute  nothing 
to  the  Lord,  but  all  things  to  their  own  power, —  that 
is,  to  cunning  and  wickedness ;  while  the  good  attribute 
nothing  to  their  own  prudence,  but  all  things  to  the 
Lord  who  is  omnipotent.  Furthermore  the  evil  and 
false  together  are  nothing,  because  they  have  no  spir- 
itual life.  This  is  why  the  life  of  the  infernals  is  not 
called  life  but  death. 

Those  who  are  in  the  evil  and  at  the  same  time  in 
the  true,  may  be  compared  to  eagles  that  soar  aloft, 
but  drop  when  deprived  of  their  wings ;  for  so  do  men 
after  death,  when  they  have  become  spirits,  if  they 
have  understood  truths,  uttered  and  taught  them,  and 
yet  had  no  regard  for  God  in  their  lives.  They  elevate 
themselves  by  intellectual  means,  and  sometimes  enter 
heaven  and  feign  themselves  angels  of  light ;  but  when 
deprived  of  truths  and  sent  forth  they  sink  into  hell. 
Eagles  moreover  signify  rapacious  men,  who  possess 
intellectual  sight;  and  wings  signify  spiritual  truths. 


28 


THE  SWEDENBORO  LIBRARY. 


It  is  said  that  they  are  such  who  have  had  no  regard 
to  God  in  their  lives ;  to  have  regard  to  God  in  one's 
life,  means  to  regard  this  or  that  evil  as  a  sin  against 
God,  and  therefore  not  to  do  it. 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  is  evident  that  the 
Lord's  Divine  Providence  continually  endeavors  to 
unite  the  true  to  the  good  and  the  good  to  the  true 
in  man,  because  that  union  is  the  church  and  heaven. 
For  that  union  is  in  the  Lord  and  in  all  that  proceeds 
from  Him ;  and  it  is  from  that  union  that  heaven  and 
the  church  are  called  a  marriage,  and  therefore  in  the 
Word  the  kingdom  of  God  is  likened  to  a  marriage. 
It  is  from  that  union  also  that  in  the  worship  of  the 
Israelitish  church  the  Sabbath  was  most  holy ;  for  it 
signified  that  union.  Moreover  it  is  from  that  union 
that  in  the  Word  and  in  every  particular  of  it  there  is  a 
marriage  of  the  good  and  the  true.  The  marriage  of 
the  good  and  true  is  from  the  Lord's  marriage  with  the 
church,  and  this  again  from  the  marriage  of  love  and 
wisdom  in  the  Lord ;  for  the  good  is  of  love,  and  the 
true  of  wisdom.  Hence  it  may  be  seen  that  the  con- 
stant purpose  of  the  Divine  Providence  is  to  unite  the 
good  to  the  true  and  tlie  true  to  the  good  in  man ;  for 
thus  man  is  united  to  the  Lord.    (D.  P.,  n.  1-21.) 


II. 

THE  END  OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  IS  A  HEAVEN 
FROM  THE  HVjVAN  RACE. 


Y  long-continued  intercourse  with  angels  and 
spirits,  it  has  been  made  known  and  proved 
J  to  me  that  heaven  does  not  consist  of  any 


\;ji«7i^  angels  created  such  from  the  beginning ;  and 
that  hell  is  not  from  any  devil  created  an  angel  of  light 
and  cast  out  of  heaven ;  but  that  both  are  from  the 
human  race,  —  heaven  from  those  who  are  in  the  love 
of  the  good  and  the  consequent  understanding  of  the 
true,  and  hell  from  those  who  are  in  the  love  of  evil, 
and  the  consequent  understanding  of  the  false. — 

Now  as  heaven  is  from  the  human  race,  and  is  an 
eternal  abode  with  the  Lord,  it  must  have  been  the 
Lord's  end  in  creation,  and  therefore  the  end  of  the 
Divine  Providence  itself.  The  Lord  did  not  create  the 
universe  for  the  sake  of  Himself,  but  for  those  with 
whom  He  is  to  dwell  in  heaven ;  for  spiritual  love  is  of 
such  a  nature  that  it  wishes  to  impart  its  own  to  another, 
and  so  far  as  it  can  do  this,  it  is  in  its  esse,  its  peace  and 
its  beatitude.  This  nature  it  derives  from  the  Lord's 
Divine  Love,  which  is  such  infinitely. 

Hence  the  end  of  the  Divine  Love,  and  consequently 
of  the  Divine  Providence,  is  a  heaven  which  shall  con- 
s'* 29 


30 


THE  SWEDEXBORG  LIBRARY. 


sist  of  men  who  have  become  and  are  becoming  angels, 
to  whom  the  Lord  can  impart  all  the  happiness  of  love 
and  wisdom  ;  and  this,  moreover,  from  Himself  resident 
within  them.  Nor  can  it  be  otherwise,  since  his  image 
and  likeness  is  in  them  from  creation, —  his  image  in 
them  being  wisdom,  and  his  likeness  love  ;  and  Himself 
in  them  being  love  united  to  wisdom,  and  wisdom  to  love, 
or  what  is  the  same,  the  good  united  to  the  true  and  the 
true  to  the  good.  But  as  it  is  not  known  what  heaven 
is  in  general,  and  what  it  is  in  particular,  and  what  it  is 
in  the  spiritual  and  in  the  natural  worlds ;  and  yet  it 
is  important  to  know  this,  because  it  is  the  end  of  the 
Divine  Providence,  I  will  present  the  subject  in  the  fol- 
lowing order  :  — 

I. — Heaven  is  union  ivith  the  Lord.  Heaven  is  not 
heaven  from  the  angels,  but  from  the  Lord;  for  the 
love  and  wisdom  in  which  the  angels  are,  and  which 
constitute  heaven,  are  not  from  them,  but  from  the 
Lord,  and  are  indeed  the  Lord  in  them.  And  since 
love  and  wisdom  are  the  Lord's  and  are  the  Lord  in  the 
angels,  and  since  these  constitute  their  life,  it  is  obvious 
that  their  life  is  the  Lord's,  nay,  even  is  the  Lord. 
The  angels  themselves  confess  that  they  live  from  the 
Lord ;  and  from  this  it  is  evident  that  heaven  is  union 
with  the  Lord.  But  as  there  are  various  degrees  of 
union  with  Him,  and  therefore  no  one's  heaven  is  the 
same  as  another's,  it  follows  that  heaven  is  according  to 
union  with  the  Lord.  In  the  following  article  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  union  is  moi'e  and  more  close,  or  more 


UNION  WITH  THE  LORD. 


31 


and  more  remote.  We  shall  here  speak  briefly  of  the 
nature  of  this  union  and  how  it  is  effected. 

It  is  a  union  of  the  Lord  with  the  angels,  and  of  the 
angels  with  the  Lord,  thus  a  reciprocal  union.  The 
Lord  flows  into  the  life's  love  of  the  angels,  and  the 
angels  receive  Him  in  wisdom,  and  by  it  in  turn  unite 
themselves  to  Him.  But  it  must  be  well  understood 
that  it  seems  to  the  angels  as  if  they  by  wisdom  united 
themselves  to  the  Lord,  but  yet  He  unites  them  to 
Himself  by  wisdom ;  for  their  wisdom  is  also  from 
Him.  It  is  the  same,  if  it  is  said  that  the  Lord  unites 
Himself  to  the  angels  by  the  good,  and  that  the  angels 
in  turn  unite  themselves  to  the  Lord  by  the  true ;  for  all 
the  good  is  from  love  and  all  the  true  is  from  wisdom. 
But  as  this  reciprocal  union  is  an  arcanum  which  few 
can  understand  without  explanation,  I  desire  to  unfold 
it  as  far  as  possible  by  such  illustrations  as  may  be  com- 
prehended. 

Love  unites  itself  to  wisdom  by  the  love  of  knowing, 
from  which  comes  the  love  of  truth,  and  by  the  love  of 
understanding,  from  which  comes  the  perception  of 
truth,  and  by  the  love  of  seeing  what  is  known  and 
understood,  from  which  comes  thought.  The  Lord 
flows  into  all  these  afiections,  for  they  are  derivations 
from  the  life's  love  of  every  one,  and  the  angels  receive 
that  influx  in  the  perception  of  truth  and  in  thought ; 
for  the  influx  seems  to  them  to  be  into  these  latter,  but 
not  into  the  affections.  Now  as  perceptions  and  thoughts 
seem  to  the  angels  as  their  own,  when  nevertheless  they 


32 


THE  SWEDENBORO  LIBRARY. 


are  from  the  affections  which  are  from  the  Lord,  tliere- 
fore  the  appearance  is  that  the  angels  unite  themselves 
reciprocally  to  the  Lord,  notwithstanding  that  He 
unites  them  to  Himself ;  since  affection  itself  produces 
perceptions  and  thoughts,  for  affection  which  is  a  deriv- 
ative of  love,  is  the  soul  of  them  ;  for  without  affection 
no  one  has  any  perception  or  thought,  and  every  one's 
perception  and  thought  is  according  to  his  affection. 
Hence  it  is  obvious  that  the  reciprocal  union  of  the 
angels  with  the  Lord  is  not  from  them,  but  only  seems 
to  be  from  them.  Such  also  is  the  Lord's  union  with 
the  church  and  its  union  with  Him,  which  is  called  the 
celestial  and  spiritual  marriage. 

When  any  one  in  the  spiritual  world  thinks  of  another 
from  a  desire  to  speak  with  him,  the  other  is  present 
immediately,  and  they  see  one  another  face  to  face.  It 
is  the  same  when  one  thinks  of  another  from  love ;  by 
this  union  is  effected,  but  by  the  former  only  presence. 
This  is  peculiar  to  that  world,  because  all  there  are 
spiritual,  it  being  otherwise  in  the  natural  world  in 
which  all  are  material.  In  the  natural  world  it  is  the 
same  with  men  in  the  affections  and  thoughts  of  their 
spirits;  but  as  there  is  space  in  the  natural  world,  and 
only  an  appearance  of  space  in  the  spiritual  world, 
therefore  whatever  takes  place  in  the  thought  of  any 
one's  spirit  in  the  spiritual  world,  takes  place  actually. 
This  is  stated  in  order  to  show  how  the  Lord's  union 
with  the  angels  is  effected,  as  well  as  the  angels'  ajjpar- 
ently  reciprocal  union  with  Him.    For  all  the  angels 


THIS  UNION  MAKES  HE  A  VEN. 


33 


turn  their  faces  to  the  Lord, —  yet  not  of  themselves, 
but  He  turns  thera  to  Himself  by  influx  into  their  life's 
love,  entering  by  it  into  their  perceptions  and  thoughts, 
and  so  turning  thera  towards  Himself  There  exists 
such  a  movement  of  love  to  thought,  and  by  love  from 
thought  to  love  again,  in  all  the  operations  of  the  human 
mind,  and  it  may  be  called  the  circle  of  life. — 

The  Lord's  heaven  in  the  natural  world  is  called  the 
church ;  and  an  angel  of  this  heaven  is  a  man  of  the 
church  who  is  united  to  the  Lord,  and  who  also  be- 
comes an  angel  of  the  spiritual  heaven  after  his  de- 
parture from  the  world.  Obviously,  therefore,  what 
has  been  said  of  the  angelic  heaven,  must  be  understood 
of  the  human  heaven,  which  is  called  the  church.  That 
reciprocal  union  with  the  Lord  which  makes  heaven  in 
man,  was  revealed  by  the  Lord  in  these  words :  "Abide 
in  me  and  I  in  you.  .  .  He  that  abideth  in  me,  and  I 
in  him,  the  same  bringeth  forth  much  fruit ;  for  with- 
out me  ye  can  do  nothing."    John  xv.  4,  5. 

From  this  it  may  be  seen  that  the  Lord  is  heaven 
not  only  in  all  who  are  there  in  general,  but  also  in 
every  one  in  particular.  For  each  angel  is  a  heaven  in 
miniature  ;  and  heaven  in  general  consists  of  as  many 
heavens  as  there  are  angels.  Since  this  is  so,  let  no  one 
cherish  the  error  that  enters  into  the  first  thought  of 
many,  that  the  Lord  is  in  heaven  among  the  angels,  or 
that  He  is  with  them  as  a  king  in  his  kingdom.  In 
appearance  He  is  in  their  Sun  above  them ;  but  as  to 
the  life  of  their  love  and  wisdom,  He  is  within  thera. 
C 


34 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


II. — Man  is  so  created  that  he  may  be  more  and  more 
closely  united  to  the  Lord.  This  is  evident  from  what 
is  shown  of  degrees  in  the  treatise  on  the  Divine  Love 
and  Wisdom,  Part  III. — But  the  nature  of  degrees 
should  be  well  understood,  as  being  of  two  kinds  (dis- 
crete degrees  or  degrees  of  altitude,  and  continuous  de- 
grees or  degrees  of  latitude),  and  the  difference  between 
them.  It  should  also  be  understood,  that  every  man 
by  creation,  and  therefore  from  birth,  has  within  him 
these  three  discrete  degrees  ;  and  that  when  he  is  born 
he  enters  the  first  degree,  which  is  called  the  natural, 
and  which  he  may  enlarge  in  himself  by  continuity  until 
he  becomes  rational ;  and  that  he  enters  the  second  de- 
gree which  is  called  the  spiritual,  if  he  lives  according 
to  the  spiritual  laws  of  order,  which  are  Divine  truths ; 
and  that  he  may  enter  the  third  degree  which  is  called 
the  celestial,  if  he  lives  according  to  the  celestial  laws 
of  order,  which  are  forms  of  the  Divine  goodness. 

These  degrees  are  actually  opened  by  the  Lord 
within  man  according  to  his  life  in  the  world,  but  not 
perceptibly  or  sensibly  until  after  his  departure  from 
the  world ;  and  as  they  are  opened,  aud  at  length  per- 
fected, man  is  more  and  more  closely  united  to  the 
Lord.  This  union  by  approximation  may  grow  more 
close  to  eternity,  and,  indeed,  is  so  strengthened  in  the 
angels ;  but  still  an  angel  cannot  attain  to  or  touch  the 
first  degree  of  the  Lord's  love  and  wisdom,  because  the 
Lord  is  infinite  and  angels  arc  fiuite,  and  between  the 
infinite  aud  the  finite  there  is  no  ratio. — 


HOW  THIS  UXIOX  IS  EFFECTED. 


35 


"We  will  briefly  explain  the  mode  of  man's  closer 
union  with  the  Lord,  and  wherefore  the  union  appears 
to  be  closer  and  closer.  Man  is  more  and  more  closely 
united  to  the  Lord,  not  by  knowledge,  nor  by  intelli- 
gence, nor  even  by  wisdom,  alone,  but  by  a  life  united 
to  them.  Man's  life  is  his  love ;  and  love  is  manifold. 
In  general,  there  is  the  love  of  evil  and  the  love  of 
good.  The  love  of  evil  is  the  love  of  adultery,  revenge, 
fraud,  blasphemy,  and  of  depriving  others  of  their 
property ;  and  it  takes  pleasure  and  delight  in  think- 
ing of  these  things,  and  in  doing  them.  The  deriva- 
tions of  this  love  which  are  affections,  are  as  numerous 
as  the  evils  to  which  it  tends  ;  and  its  perceptions  and 
thoughts  are  as  numerous  as  the  falsities  which  favor 
and  confirm  those  evils.  These  falsities  make  one  with 
the  evils,  as  the  understanding  makes  one  with  the  will. 
They  are  not  separated  from  each  othei-,  because  they 
belong  to  each  other. 

Now  as  the  Lord  flows  into  the  life's  love  of  every 
one,  and  through  its  aSections  into  his  perceptions  and 
thoughts,  and  not  the  reverse,  it  follows  that  He  can 
unite  Himself  closely  to  man,  only  in  proportion  as  the 
love  of  evil  with  its  afl^ections  which  are  lusts,  is  re- 
moved. And  as  these  lusts  reside  in  the  natural  man, 
and  man  feels  as  if  he  did  from  himself  whatever  he 
does  from  the  natural  man,  therefore  man  ought  as  of 
himself  to  remove  the  evils  of  that  love ;  and  so  far 
as  he  does  this,  the  Lord  draws  nearer  and  unites  Him- 
self to  man. 


36 


THE  SWEDENBORO  LIBRARY. 


Any  one  may  see  from  reason  that  lusts  with  their 
delights  obstruct  and  close  the  doors  against  the  Lord, 
and  cannot  be  cast  out  by  Him,  so  long  as  man  himself 
keeps  the  doors  closed,  and  presses  against  them  from 
without  to  prevent  their  being  opened.  That  man 
himself  ought  to  open  them,  is  obvious  from  the  Lord's 
words  in  Rev.  iii.  20 :  "  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and 
knock ;  if  any  man  hear  my  voice  and  open  the  door, 
I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  will  sup  with  him  and  he 
with  me." 

It  is  therefore  clear,  that  so  far  as  any  one  shuna 
evils  as  diabolical,  and  as  obstacles  to  the  Lord's  en- 
trance, he  is  more  and  more  closely  united  to  the  Lord ; 
and  he  the  most  closely,  who  abhors  these  evils  as  so 
many  dark  and  burning  devils.  For  evil  and  the 
devil  are  one,  and  the  falsity  of  evil  and  satan  are 
one.  For  as  the  Lord's  influx  is  into  the  love  of  the 
good  and  into  its  affections,  and  through  these  into  the 
perceptions  and  thoughts  which  all  derive  their  exist- 
ence as  truths  from  the  good  in  which  man  is;  so  is 
the  devil's  influx,  or  that  of  hell,  into  the  love  of  evil 
and  its  affections  which  are  lusts,  and  through  these 
into  the  perceptions  and  thoughts  which  all  derive  their 
inherent  falseness  from  the  evil  in  which  man  is. 

Why  that  union  seems  to  be  more  and  more  close.  The 
further  the  evils  in  the  natural  man  are  removed  by  his 
shunning  them  and  becoming  averse  to  them,  so  much 
tlie  more  closely  is  man  united  to  the  Lord.  And  as 
love  and  wisdom  which  are  the  Lord  Himself,  are  not 


LOVE  AND  WISDOM  NOT  IN  SPACE.  37 


in  space,  therefore  affection  and  thought  which  are 
derivatives  of  love  and  wisdom,  have  nothing  in  com- 
mon with  space ;  and  therefore,  according  to  the  union 
effected  by  love  and  wisdom,  the  Lord  seems  nearer ; 
and  on  the  other  hand,  more  remote  according  to  the 
rejection  of  love  and  wisdom. 

There  is  no  space  in  the  spiritual  world,  but  distance 
and  presence  there  are  according  to  the  similarities  and 
dissimilarities  of  affection ;  for,  as  before  stated,  affec- 
tions and  thoughts,  which  are  derivatives  of  love  and 
wisdom,  and  are  in  themselves  spiritual,  are  not  in 
space. 

The  Lord's  union  with  the  man  in  whom  evils  are 
removed,  is  meant  by  these  words  :  "  Blessed  are  the 
pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God  ; "  Matt.  v.  8  ;  and 
by  these:  "He  that  hath  my  commandments,  and 
keepeth  them,  .  .  we  will  come  unto  him  and  make 
our  abode  with  him."  John  xiv.  21,  23.  To  have  his 
commandments  is  to  know  them,  and  to  keep  them  is 
to  love  them  ;  for  it  is  also  said  there :  "  He  that  hath 
my  commandments,  and  keepeth  them,  he  it  is  that 
ioveth  me." 

III. —  The  more  closely  man  is  united  to  the  Lord  the 
wiser  he  becomes.  Since  there  are  three  degrees  of  life 
in  man  by  creation,  and  therefore  from  birth,  there  are 
especially  three  degrees  of  wisdom  in  him.  These  are 
the  degrees  which  are  opened  in  man  according  to  his 
union  [with  the  Lord].  They  are  opened  according  to 
love,  for  love  is  union  itself.  But  of  the  ascent  of  love 
4 


38 


THE  SWEDENBORO  LIBRARY. 


iu  degrees,  man  lias  only  an  obscure  perception,  while 
the  ascent  of  wisdom  is  clearly  perceived  by  those  who 
know  and  see  the  nature  of  wisdom. — 

There  are  three  degrees  of  wisdom,  natural,  spiritual, 
and  celestial.  Man  is  iu  the  natural  degree  while  he 
lives  in  the  world.  This  degree  in  him  may  then  be 
exalted  to  its  perfection,  and  yet  he  cannot  enter  the 
spiritual  degree,  because  this  does  not  progress  into  the 
natural  by  coutiuuity,  but  is  united  to  it  by  corre- 
spondences. After  death,  he  is  in  the  spiritual  degree  of 
wisdom,  which  is  also  of  such  a  nature  that  it  may  be 
exalted  to  its  perfection ;  but  yet  he  cannot  enter  the 
celestial  degree,  because  this  degree  does  not  progress 
into  the  spiritual  by  continuity,  but  is  united  to  it  by 
correspondences.  From  this  it  will  appear  that  wisdom 
may  be  exalted  in  a  triplicate  ratio,  and  that  in  each 
degree  it  may  be  exalted  iu  a  simple  ratio  to  its  perfec- 
tion. Any  cue  understanding  the  ascent  and  perfection 
of  these  degrees  may  in  some  measure  apprehend  why 
angelic  wisdom  is  said  to  be  ineffable ;  and,  moreover, 
it  is  so  ineffable,  that  a  thousand  ideas  involved  in  the 
thought  of  the  angels  from  their  wisdom,  can  exhibit  but 
one  idea  in  the  thought  of  men  from  theirs, —  nine  hun- 
dred and  ninety-nine  ideas  of  the  angelic  thought  being 
unable  to  find  entrance,  because  they  are  supernatural. 
The  truth  of  this  has  been  often  made  known  to  me  by 
living  experience.  But  no  one  can  attain  to  that  inef- 
fable wisdom  of  the  angels,  unless  by  union  with  the 
Lord,  and  according  to  it.    For  He  alone  opens  the 


WHAT  TRUE  WISDOM  IS. 


39 


spiritual  and  celestial  degrees,  and  only  with  those  who 
are  wise  from  Him. — 

But  let  no  one  suppose  a  man  to  be  in  possession  of 
wisdom  because  he  knows  much,  has  rather  a  clear  per- 
ception of  it,  and  can  talk  intelligently  about  it,  unless 
his  knowledge  is  united  to  love.  For  love  by  its  affec- 
tions produces  wisdom  ;  and  if  this  is  not  united  to  love, 
it  is  like  a  vanishing  meteor  or  a  falling  star.  But  wis- 
dom united  to  love  is  like  the  constant  light  of  the  sun, 
or  like  a  fixed  star. — 

Wisdom,  as  perceptibly  manifest,  is  the  perception  of 
truth  from  an  affection  for  it, —  especially  the  perception 
of  spiritual  truth ;  for  there  is  civil,  moral  and  spiritual 
truth.  They  who  are  in  the  perception  of  spiritual  truth 
from  an  affection  for  it,  are  also  in  the  perception  of 
moral  and  civil  truth ;  for  the  affection  for  spiritual 
truth  is  the  soul  of  these.  I  have  sometimes  talked  of 
wisdom  with  the  angels,  and  they  said  it  was  union  with 
the  Lord,  because  He  is  Wisdom  itself;  and  that  he 
who  rejected  hell  from  himself,  attained  to  that  union, 
and  attained  to  it  just  so  far  as  he  rejected  hell.  They 
said  that  they  represented  wisdom  to  themselves  as  a 
magnificent  and  superbly  decorated  palace,  the  ascent 
to  which  is  by  twelve  steps ;  and  that  no  man  reached 
the  first  step  unless  from  the  Lord  and  by  union  .with 
Him  ;  and  that  every  one  ascended  according  to  that 
union,  and,  as  he  ascended,  he  perceived  that  no  one 
was  wise  from  himself,  but  from  the  Lord.  They  said, 
furthermore,  that  the  things  respecting  which  man  was 


40 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


wise,  compared  with  those  in  which  he  had  no  wisdom, 
were  like  a  few  drops  to  a  great  lake.  The  twelve  steps 
to  the  palace  of  wisdom  signify  the  good  united  to  the 
true,  and  the  true  to  the  good,  in  all  their  varieties. 

IV.  —  The  more  closely  man  is  united  to  the  Lord, 
the  happier  he  becomes.  All  that  has  been  said  of  the 
degrees  of  life  and  wisdom  according  to  union  with 
the  Lord,  may  also  be  said  of  degrees  of  happiness. 
For  happiness  ascends  as  the  higher  degrees  of  the 
mind  called  the  spiritual  and  celestial,  are  opened  in 
man ;  and  after  his  life  in  the  world  these  degrees 
enlarge  to  eternity. 

No  man  who  takes  delight  in  the  lusts  of  evil,  can 
know  any  thing  of  the  delight  there  is  in  affections  for 
the  good  which  exist  in  the  angelic  heaven.  For  these 
delights  are  totally  opposed  to  each  other  in  internals, 
and  are  consequently  interiorly  opposed  in  externals, 
even  when  they  differ  but  little  on  the  mere  surface. 
For  every  love  has  its  own  delights,  even  the  love  of 
evil  in  those  who  are  given  to  lusts, —  as  the  love  of 
adultery,  revenge,  fraud,  theft,  cruelty,  and  even  the 
love,  prevalent  with  the  most  wicked,  of  blaspheming 
the  sacred  things  of  the  church,  and  of  contemptuous 
utterances  against  God.  The  love  of  rule  from  self- 
love  is  the  fountain-head  of  these  delights,  which  origi- 
nate in  the  lusts  that  possess  the  interiors  of  the  mind, 
and  from  this  flow  into  the  body,  there  exciting  the  un- 
clean things  which  titillate  the  fibres.  And  thus  from 
the  mind's  delight  in  lust  arises  that  of  the  body. — 


HEAVENLY  AND  INFERNAL  DELIGHTS.  41 

The  understanding  merely  sees,  and  sees  what  be- 
longs to  wisdom  or  the  true,  not  what  belongs  to  love 
or  the  good.  Heavenly  felicities  are  therefore  inde- 
scribable ;  but  yet  they  ascend  step  by  step  with  wisdom. 
Their  varieties  are  infinite,  and  every  one  ineffable. 
This  I  have  heard,  and  have  had  a  perception  of  it. 
But  the  felicities  enter  as  man  removes  the  lusts  arising 
from  the  love  of  evil  and  falsity,  as  if  of  himself,  but  in 
reality  from  the  Lord ;  for  these  felicities  are  the  feli- 
cities of  affections  for  the  good  and  true,  which  are  op- 
posed to  the  lusts  arising  from  the  love  of  the  evil  and 
false.  The  felicity  of  affections  for  the  good  and  true 
begins  in  the  Lord,  thus  in  the  inmost,  and  from  this 
diffuses  itself  throughout  inferior  things  even  to  ulti- 
mates,  and  so  fills  the  angel,  making  him  like  an  em- 
bodiment of  mere  delight.  Such  felicities  with  infinite 
variety,  reside  in  every  affection  for  the  good  and  true, 
most  of  all  in  affection  for  wisdom. 

The  delights  of  the  lusts  of  evil  can  only  be  com- 
pared to  the  lasciviousuess  of  frogs  in  ponds,  and  of  ser- 
pents in  slimy  places ;  while  the  delights  of  affections 
for  the  good  may  be  compared  to  mental  delights  in 
gardens  and  flowers.  For  things  similar  to  those  which 
are  pleasing  to  frogs  and  serpents,  are  also  pleasing  to 
those  in  the  hells  which  are  in  the  lusts  of  evil ;  and 
things  similar  to  those  which  are  pleasing  to  the  mind 
in  gai-deus  and  flowers,  are  also  pleasing  to  those  in  the 
heavens  who  are  in  affections  for  the  good. 

It  may  appear  from  this,  that  the  more  closely  any 
•I* 


42 


THE  SWEDENDORG  LIBRARY. 


one  is  united  to  the  Lord,  the  happier  he  becomes. 
But  this  happiness  is  rarely  manifest  in  the  world,  be- 
cause man  is  then  in  the  natural  state  ;  and  the  natural 
does  not  communicate  with  the  spiritual  by  continuity, 
but  by  corresjiondences  ;  and  this  communication  is  not 
felt  except  by  a  certain  quiet  and  peace  of  mind,  which 
is  enjoyed  especially  after  conflict  with  evil.  But 
when  man  puts  off  the  natural  and  enters  the  spiritual 
state,  which  he  does  after  his  departure  from  the  world, 
then  the  happiness  above  described  gradually  manifests 
itself. 

V.  —  The  more  closely  man  is  united  to  the  Lord,  the 
more  distinctly  he  seems  to  himself  to  he  his  own,  and  the 
more  clearly  he  recognizes  that  he  is  the  Lord's.  The  ap- 
pearance is,  that  the  more  closely  any  one  is  united  to 
the  Lord,  the  less  he  is  his  own.  This  appearance  pre- 
vails with  all  who  are  wicked,  and  also  with  those  who 
from  religion  believe  that  they  are  not  subject  to  the 
law,  and  that  no  one  can  do  good  of  himself.  Neither 
these  nor  those  can  possibly  see  but  that  to  be  denied 
the  indulgence  of  thought  and  will  in  evil,  and  to  be 
allowed  their  exercise  in  the  good  only,  is  not  to  be 
one's  own.  And  because  they  who  are  united  to  the 
Lord  have  neither  the  desire  nor  the  ability  to  indulge 
their  thought  and  will  in  evil,  from  the  appearance  in 
themselves,  the  others  infer  that  this  is  not  to  be  one's 
own.    Yet  the  exact  contrary  is  the  truth. 

There  is  an  infernal  freedom,  and  a  heavenly  free- 
dom.   Evil  thoughts  and  desires,  and,  within  the  limits 


HEAVENLY  AND  INFERNAL  FREEDOM.  43 

of  civil  and  moral  laws,  the  utterance  and  exercise  of 
them,  are  from  infernal  freedom.  But  good  thoughts 
and  desires,  and,  so  far  as  opportunity  offers,  their  utter- 
ance and  exercise,  are  from  heavenly  freedom.  What- 
ever man  thinks,  desires,  says  and  does  from  freedom, 
he  perceives  as  his  own ;  for  every  one's  freedom  is 
wholly  from  his  love.  Therefore  they  who  are  in  the 
love  of  evil,  do  not  perceive  but  that  infernal  freedom 
is  real  freedom  ;  while  they  who  are  in  the  love  of  good 
perceive  that  heavenly  freedom  is  real  freedom,  conse- 
quently that  the  opposite  is  slavery.  Yet  no  one  can 
deny  but  that  only  one  of  these  is  freedom  ;  for  there 
cannot  be  two  kinds  of  freedom  essentially  opposed, 
and  each  essentially  freedom.  Nor  can  it  be  denied, 
moreover,  that  to  be  led  by  good  is  freedom,  and  to  be 
led  by  evil  is  slavery  ;  for  to  be  led  by  good  is  to  be  led 
by  the  Lord,  and  to  be  led  by  evil  is  to  be  led  by  the 
devil. 

Now  because  all  that  a  man  does  from  fi-eedom  seems 
to  be  his  own,  because  it  is  his  love's,  it  follows  that 
union  with  the  Lord  causes  man  to  seem  to  himself  free, 
and  therefore  his  own  ;  and  the  closer  his  union  with 
the  Lord,  the  more  free  he  seems,  and  therefore  the 
more  his  own.  He  seems  to  himself  to  be  more  dis- 
tinctly his  own,  because  it  is  the  nature  of  divine  love 
to  wish  its  own  to  be  another's,  that  is,  to  belong  to  man 
and  angel.  This  is  the  character  of  all  spiritual  love, 
but  in  the  highest  degree  of  divine  love.  Furthermore, 
the  Lord  never  compels  any  one,  because  any  thing  to 


44 


THE  SWEDENDORO  LIBRARY. 


which  a  man  is  forced  does  not  seem  to  be  his  own ; 
and  what  does  not  seem  to  be  his  own  cannot  become 
his  love's,  and  cannot  be  appropriated  by  him  as  liis 
own.  Therefore  man  is  led  by  the  Lord  in  freedom 
perpetually,  and  is  also  reformed  and  regenerated  in 
freedom. 

That  man,  the  more  distinctly  he  seems  to  himself  to 
be  his  own,  recognizes  the  more  clearly  that  he  is  the 
Lord's,  is  because  the  more  closely  he  is  united  to  the 
Lord,  the  wiser  he  becomes,  and  wisdom  teaches  this, 
and  also  recognizes  it.  The  angels  of  the  third  heaven, 
who  are  the  wisest  of  angels,  have  a  perception  of  tliis 
condition,  and  call  it  real  freedom  ;  while  to  be  led  by 
themselves  they  call  slavery.  (D.  P.,  n.  27-44.) 


m. 

THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  IN  ALL  ITS  ACTIVITY 
REGARDS  THE  INFINITE  AND  ETERNAL. 

S  the  subject  of  this  work  is  Divine  Provi- 
dence, and  here,  that  in  all  its  activity  it  re- 
gards the  infinite  and  eternal,  and  as  this 
cannot  be  set  forth  distinctly  unless  in  some 
order,  the  order  shall  be  as  follows :  — 

I. — The  infinite  in  itself  and  the  eternal  in  itself  is  the 
same  as  the  Divine.  That  the  infinite  in  itself  and 
eternal  in  itself  is  the  Divine,  is  according  to  the  an- 
gelic conception  of  it ;  for  by  the  infinite  the  angels 
understand  no  other  than  the  Divine  Being  (esse),  and 
by  the  eternal  the  Divine  Existence  (existere).  This 
truth  may  also  be  seen  by  men,  and  it  may  not.  It 
may  be  seen  by  those  who  do  not  think  of  the  infinite 
from  space,  nor  of  the  eternal  from  time ;  but  not  by 
those  who  think  of  the  infinite  and  etex-nal  from  space 
and  time ;  that  is,  it  may  be  seen  by  those  who  think 
more  profoundly  from  the  interior  of  the  rational 
faculty,  and  not  by  those  who  think  more  superficially, 
that  is,  externally.  Those  by  whom  it  may  be  seen, 
reflect  that  infinity  of  space  is  not  possible,  nor  infinity 
of  time,  therefore,  as  the  eternity  from  which  all  things 
were,  because  the  infinite  is  without  beginning  and 

45 


46 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


without  end,  or  without  limits.  —  From  reasons  which 
may  be  seen  from  the  more  interior  rational  faculty,  it 
is  plain  that  there  is  an  infinite  in  itself  and  an  eternal 
in  itself,  and  that  together  they  are  the  Divine,  which 
is  the  origin  of  all  things. 

I  know  that  many  will  say  within  themselves.  How  can 
a  man  interiorly  in  his  rationality  comprehend  the  ex- 
istence of  a  something  without  space  and  time?  and 
not  only  that  such  a  thing  exists,  but  that  it  is  the  All, 
and  is  the  Absolute,  from  which  all  things  are  derived? 
But  think  interiorly,  whether  love  or  any  of  its  affec- 
tions, or  wisdom  or  any  of  its  perceptions,  or  even 
thought,  exists  in  space  and  time,  and  you  will  find 
that  it  does  not.  And  since  the  Divine  is  Love  itself 
and  Wisdom  itself,  it  follows  that  it  cannot  be  con- 
ceived of  as  existing  in  space  and  time ;  nor,  therefore, 
can  the  Infinite.  To  obtain  a  clearer  perception  of  this, 
make  it  a  question  whether  thought  exists  in  space  and 
time.  Suppose  tliought  to  continue  for  ten  or  twelve 
hours :  may  not  this  length  of  time  seem  but  an  hour 
or  two?  and  may  it  not  also  seem  to  be  one  or  two 
days?  Its  apparent  duration  is  according  to  the  state 
of  affection  from  which  the  thought  comes.  If  the 
affection  is  one  of  gladness,  in  which  time  is  unnoticed, 
thought  continued  for  ten  or  twelve  hours  seems  scarcely 
to  occupy  one  or  two.  The  reverse  is  the  case  if  the 
affection  is  one  of  sorrow,  in  wliich  time  is  noticed. 
From  this  it  is  plain  that  time  is  only  an  appearance 
according  to  the  state  of  aflection  from  which  thought 


OUR  SPIRITUAL  ASSOCIATES. 


47 


comes.  It  is  the  same  with  distance  in  space,  either 
in  walking  or  journeying. 

As  angels  and  spirits  are  love's  affections  and  thoughts 
therefrom,  therefore  they  are  not  in  space  and  time,  but 
only  in  the  appearance  of  them.  There  is  to  them  an 
appearance  of  space  and  time  according  to  the  states 
of  the  affections  and  thoughts  therefrom.'  Therefore 
when  one  angel  thinks  of  another  from  affection,  with 
the  intention  and  desire  of  seeing  or  speaking  with  him, 
the  latter  appears  actually  present.  For  this  reason 
there  are  present  with  every  man,  spirits  Avhose  affec- 
tions are  similar  to  his  own  —  evil  spirits  with  him  who 
has  a  similar  affection  for  evil,  and  good  spirits  with 
him  who  has  a  similar  affection  for  good  ;  and  they  are 
as  positively  present  as  if  the  man  were  included  in 
[their]  society.  Space  and  time  contribute  nothing 
towards  effecting  their  presence,  because  affection  and 
its  thought  are  not  in  space  and  time,  and  spirits  and 
angels  are  affections  and  thoughts  therefrom.  The 
truth  of  this  I  have  learned  from  the  living  experience 
of  many  years ;  and  also  from  the  fact,  that  I  have 
conversed  with  many  after  their  death,— with  those 
of  the  various  kingdoms  of  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa, 
and  they  were  all  near  me.  But  if  to  them  there  had 
been  space  and  time,  a  journey  and  the  time  of  journey- 
ing would  have  been  between  us. — 

From  these  statements  it  will  now  be  obvious  that  a 
conception  of  the  infinite  and  eternal,  therefore  of  the 
Lord,  must  be  formed  apart  from  space  and  time  ;  and 


48 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


that  a  conception  of  them  is  possible,  and  is  acquired 
by  those  who  think  from  the  interior  of  the  rational 
faculty,  and  that  then  the  infinite  and  eternal  are  the 
same  as  the  Divine.  So  do  angels  and  spirits  think. 
By  thought  abstracted  from  time  and  space  the  Divine 
Omnipresence  and  Omnipotence  are  comprehended,  also 
the  Divine  from  eternity  ;  but  not  at  all  by  thought 
which  involves  the  idea  of  space  and  time.  From  this 
it  is  plain  that  a  conception  of  God  [as  existing]  from 
eternity  is  possible,  but  by  no  means  of  nature ;  con- 
sequently a  conception  of  the  creation  of  the  universe 
by  God  is  possible,  but  by  no  means  of  creation  from 
nature;  for  space  and  time  are  properties  of  nature, 
but  not  of  the  Divine. 

II. —  The  Infinite  and  Eternal  in  itself  cannot  hut 
regard  what  is  infinite  from  itself  in  the  finite.  By 
the  infinite  and  eternal  iu  itself  is  meant  the  Divine 
itself,  as  shown  in  the  preceding  proposition;  by  the 
finite  is  meant  everything  created  from  the  infinite, 
especially  men,  spirits  and  angels ;  and  by  regarding 
the  infinite  and  eternal  from  itself  is  meant  to  regard 
the  Diviue  —  that  is,  to  regard  Itself  in  others,  as  a  man 
views  his  image  in  a  glass. — 

He  who  loves  another,  regards  him  from  his  own  love 
in  himself ;  and  a  wise  man  regards  another  from  his 
own  wisdom  in  himself.  The  one  may,  indeed,  see 
either  that  the  other  loves  him  or  loves  him  not,  is  wise 
or  not  wise ;  but  he  sees  this  from  the  love  and  the  wis- 
dom in  himself:   therefore  he  unites  himself  to  the 


CHIEF  REGARD  OF  rROVIDENCE.  49 


other,  so  far  as  the  other  loves  him  as  he  loves  the 
other,  or  so  far  as  the  other  is  wise  as  he  is  wise ;  for  so 
they  make  one.  It  is  the  same  with  the  Divine  in  it- 
self. For  the  Divine  in  itself  cannot  regard  itself  from 
another,  as  from  a  man,  a  spirit,  or  an  angel;  for  in 
these  there  is  nothing  of  the  originative  Divine  in  itself; 
and  to  regard  the  Divine  from  another,  in  whom  there 
is  none  of  the  Divine,  would  be  to  regard  the  Divine 
from  the  non-Divine,  which  is  impossible.  Therefore  it 
is  that  the  Lord  is  so  united  to  man,  spirit  and  angel, 
that  everything  [in  them]  which  relates  to  the  Divine, 
is  not  from  them,  but  from  the  Lord. — 

From  this  it  now  follows,  that  the  infinite  and  eter- 
nal, which  is  the  same  as  the  Divine,  regards  all 
things  infinitely  in  the  finite,  and  unites  itself  to  them 
according  to  the  degree  of  the  reception  of  love  and 
wisdom  in  them.  In  a  word,  the  Lord  cannot  have  a 
dwelling-place  in  man  and  angel,  nor  abide  with  them, 
unless  in  what  is  His  own. — 

III. —  The  Divine  Providence  in  all  its  activity  regards 
the  infinite  and  eternal  from  itself,  especially  in  the  salvation 
of  the  human  race.  The  infinite  and  eternal  from  itself 
is  the  proceeding  Divine,  or  the  Lord  present  in  others 
created  from  Himself — that  is,  in  men  and  angels;  and 
this  Divine  is  the  same  as  the  Divine  Providence.  For 
the  Lord,  through  the  Divine  proceeding  from  Himself, 
provides  for  the  preservation  of  all  things  in  the  order 
in  which  and  for  which  they  were  created. 

That  the  Divine  Providence  in  all  its  activity  regards 
5  D 


50 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBliARY. 


the  infinite  and  eternal  from  itself,  may  appear  from 
this,  that  everything  created  from  the  First  [Substance], 
which  is  infinite  and  eternal,  proceeds  to  ultimates,  and 
from  ultimates  back  to  its  origin  in  the  First.  And 
since  the  First  originative  substance  resides  inmostly  in 
all  progression,  it  follows  that  the  proceeding  Divine 
or  the  Divine  Providence  in  all  its  activity  regards 
some  image  of  the  infinite  and  eternal.  This  it  does  in 
all  things,  but  in  some  obviously  to  perception,  and  in 
some  not.  It  presents  that  image  to  the  evidence  of 
perception  in  the  variety  of  all  things,  and  in  their 
fructification  and  multiplication.  An  image  of  the  in- 
finite and  eternal  appears  in  the  variety  of  all  things 
from  tliis,  that  no  one  thing  exists  or  can  ever  exist 
which  is  the  same  as  another.  This  appears  to  the 
eye  in  the  faces  of  men  from  the  first  creation ;  then 
again  in  their  dispositions,  of  which  their  faces  are  the 
types ;  and  again  from  their  aSections,  perceptions  and 
thoughts,  for  these  form  their  dispositions.  For  this 
reason  there  is  not,  and  never  can  be,  in  the  universal 
heaven,  two  angels  or  two  spirits  who  are  just  alike. 
It  is  the  same  with  every  visible  object  in  both  worlds, 
the  natural  and  the  spiritual.  This  may  serve  to  show 
tliat  variety  is  infinite  and  eternal.  An  image  of  the 
infinite  and  eternal  in  the  Jructificaiion  and  multiplication 
of  all  tilings,  is  evident  from  the  power  inherent  in  the 
seeds  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  and  from  prolification 
in  the  animal  kingdom,  especially  in  the  family  of 
fishes ;  for  if  they  should  fructify  and  multiply  accord- 


MAN  A  mi: HE  RECEPTACLE. 


51 


ing  to  their  ability,  they  would  in  time  fill  the  world, 
nay,  the  universe. — 

It  is  the  same  with  men  in  their  affections  which  are 
derivatives  of  love,  and  in  their  perceptions  which  are 
derivatives  of  wisdom.  Of  both  the  latter  and  the  for- 
mer the  variety  is  infinite ;  so  is  their  fructification  and 
multiplication,  which  are  spiritual.  No  man  enjoys  an 
affection  and  perception  so  like  those  of  another  as  to 
be  the  same,  nor  is  this  possible  to  eternity.  Moreover, 
affections  may  fructify  aud  perceptions  multiply  without 
end.  This  capacity  for  infinite  and  eternal  fructifica- 
tion and  multiplication,  exists  with  man  in  things  nat- 
ural, with  spiritual  angels  in  things  spiritual,  and  with 
celestial  angels  in  things  celestial.  Such  is  the  nature 
not  only  of  afiections,  perceptions,  and  knowledge  in 
general,  but  also  of  every  particular  thing  in  them,  even 
the  most  minute.  But  as  the  finite  possesses  nothing  of 
that  which  is  in  itself  Divine,  therefore  there  is  not  any 
such  thing,  not  even  the  least,  in  man  or  angel  as  his 
own  ;  for  man  and  angel  are  finite,  mere  receptacles,  in 
themselves  dead.  Their  living  principle  is  from  the 
proceeding  Divine  united  to  them  by  contiguity,  and 
appearing  to  them  as  their  own.  The  truth  of  this  will 
be  seen  in  what  follows. 

The  Divine  Providence  regards  the  infinite  and  eter- 
nal from  itself  especially  in  the  salvation  of  mankind, 
because  its  end  is  a  heaven  from  the  human  race. 
Hence  it  follows,  that  the  reformation  and  regeneration 
of  man,  therefore  his  salvation,  is  that  which  the  Divine 


52 


THE  SWEDENBORO  LIBRARY. 


Providence  especially  regards ;  for  heaven  consists  of 
tlie  saved  or  regenerated.  Since  to  regenerate  man  is 
to  unite  in  him  the  good  and  true,  or  love  and  wisdom, 
as  they  are  united  in  the  Divine  which  proceeds  from 
the  Lord,  therefore  the  Divine  Providence  especially 
regards  this  in  the  salvation  of  the  human  race.  An 
image  of  the  infinite  and  eternal  does  not  exist  in  man 
except  in  the  marriage  of  the  good  and  true.  That 
the  proceeding  Divine  effects  this  in  the  human  race 
is  known  from  those  who,  being  filled  with  the  Divine 
Proceeding  called  the  Holy  Spirit,  have  prophesied,  of 
whom  in  the  Word  ;  also  from  those  who,  being  illu- 
mined, see  Divine  truths  in  the  light  of  heaven  ;  espe- 
cially from  the  angels,  who  have  a  sensible  perception 
of  the  Divine  presence,  influx  and  union. 

It  has  not  been  known  as  yet  that  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence in  every  step  of  its  progress  with  man  regards 
his  eternal  state;  for  it  cannot  do  otherwise,  because 
the  Divine  is  infinite  and  eternal,  and  the  Infinite  and 
Eternal,  or  the  Divine,  is  not  in  time,  and  therefore  to 
it  all  things  future  are  present.  And  such  being  the 
nature  of  the  Divine,  it  follows  that  in  everything  it 
does,  one  and  all,  there  is  the  eternal.  They  who  think 
from  time  and  space  can  hardly  conceive  of  this. —  But 
they  who  are  in  the  Divine,  because  they  think  from 
the  Lord,  think  from  the  eternal  even  in  the  present. — 
And  when  man  so  thinks,  and  at  the  same  time  so  lives, 
then  the  proceeding  Divine  in  him,  or  the  Divine 
Providence  in  every  step  of  its  progress,  regards  the 


AN  IMAGE  OP  THE  INFINITE. 


53 


state  of  his  eterual  life  in  heaven,  and  leads  towards 
it. 

IV.  —  An  image  of  the  infinite  and  eternal  is 
displayed  in  the  angelic  heaven.  Among  the  neces- 
sary objects  of  knowledge  is  also  the  angelic  hea- 
ven ;  for  every  one  possessing  any  religion  thinks  of 
it,  and  desires  to  go  there.  But  heaven  is  not  given 
to  any  but  those  who  know  the  way  to  it,  and  walk  in 
it.  This  way  may  be  known  somewhat  from  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  character  of  those  who  constitute  heaven ; 
and  from  the  fact  that  no  one  becomes  an  angel,  or 
goes  to  heaven,  but  he  who  carries  an  angelic  nature 
with  hira  from  the  world,  inherent  in  which  nature  is 
a  knowledge  of  the  way  from  walking  in  it,  and  a 
walking  in  it  by  the  knowledge  of  it.  In  the  spii'itual 
world,  moreover,  there  are  actually  roads  which  lead 
to  every  society  in  heaven,  and  to  every  society  in  hell ; 
and  each  sees  his  own  way  as  of  himself.  This  is 
because  there  is  a  road  there  for  every  particular  love ; 
and  the  love  opens  it,  and  leads  every  one  to  his  com- 
panions. No  one  sees  the  roads  of  any  loves  but  his 
own ;  from  which  it  is  plain  that  the  angels  are  no 
other  than  heavenly  loves ;  otherwise  they  would  not 
see  the  roads  leading  to  heaven. 

When  a  man  thinks  only  from  his  spirit,  as  he  does 
when  in  private  meditation  at  home,  he  thinks  from 
the  affection  proper  to  his  love.  From  which  it  Avill  be 
seen,  that  when  he  becomes  a  spirit,  as  he  does  after 
death,  he  is  his  own  love's  affection,  and  no  other 
5  * 


54 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIDRAIIY. 


thought  tlian  what  belongs  to  his  affection.  He  is  an 
evil  affection,  which  is  lust,  if  his  love  had  been  the 
love  of  evil ;  and  a  good  affection,  if  his  love  had  been 
the  love  of  good.  And  every  one's  affection  is  good  in 
proportion  as  he  had  shunned  evils  as  sins,  and  evil  iu 
proportion  as  he  had  not.  Now  as  spirits  and  angels 
are  affections,  it  is  plain  that  the  whole  angelic  heaven 
is  no  other  than  the  love  which  comprises  all  affections 
for  the  good,  and  the  consequent  wisdom  which  com- 
prises all  perceptions  of  the  true.  And  as  all  of  the 
good  and  true  is  from  the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  is  love 
itself  and  wisdom  itself,  it  follows  that  the  angelic 
heaven  is  his  image.  And  as  the  divine  love  and 
wisdom  iu  their  own  form  are  man,  it  also  follows  that 
the  angelic  heaven  cannot  possibly  have  any  other 
form. 

The  angelic  heaven  is  an  image  of  the  infinite  and 
eternal,  because  it  is  an  image  of  the  Lord,  and  He 
is  infinite  and  eternal.  An  image  of  the  infinite  and 
eternal  in  Him  appears  in  the  fact,  that  there  are 
myriads  of  myriads  of  angels  who  constitute  heaven, 
and  that  they  are  formed  into  societies  as  numerous  as 
the  general  affections  in  heavenly  love,  and  that  every 
angel  in  each  society  is  distinctly  his  own  affection ; 
also  that  from  so  many  affections,  general  and  particu- 
lar, arises  the  Form  of  heaven,  which  is  as  one  before 
the  Lord,  precisely  as  a  man  is.  Moreover,  this  form 
is  eternally  perfecting  according  to  plurality ;  for  the 
more  there  are  that  enter  the  form  of  the  Divine  Love, 


HEAVEN  IN  THE  LORU-S  VIEW. 


55 


which  is  the  Form  of  forms,  the  more  perfect  the  union 
becomes. 

From  a  kuowledge  of  heaven  as  here  briefly  de- 
scribed, it  is  plain  that  affection,  derived  from  the  love 
of  the  good,  constitutes  heaveu  in  man.  But  who  at 
the  present  day  knows  this?  or  wlio  knows  even  what 
an  affection  derived  from  the  love  of  the  good  is  ?  or 
that  such  affections  are  innumerable,  nay,  infinite?  For 
as  before  stated,  every  angel  is  distinctly  his  own  affec- 
tion ;  and  the  form  of  heaven  is  the  form  of  all  the 
affections  of  divine  love  there.  To  unite  all  affections 
in  this  form  can  be  done  only  by  Him  who  is  at  once 
Love  itself  aud  "Wisdom  itself,  and  both  infinite  and 
eternal. —  There  are  myriads  of  myriads  who  compose 
that  form,  and  myriads  enter  it  yearly,  aud  for  ever 
will.  All  infants  enter  it,  and  as  many  adults  as  are 
affections  derived  from  the  love  of  the  good.  In  this 
again  may  be  seen  an  image  of  the  infinite  aud  eternal 
in  the  angelic  heaven. 

V. —  To  regard  the  infinite  and  eternal  in  the  format  ion 
of  the  angelic  heaven,  in  order  to  make  it  before  the  Lord 
like  one  man,  which  is  his  image,  is  the  inmost  of  the 
Divine  Providence.  Since  in  the  Lord's  view  the  uni- 
versal heaven  is  like  one  man,  therefore  heaveu  is 
divided  into  as  many  general  societies  as  there  are 
organs,  viscera  and  members  in  man  ;  and  every  general 
society,  into  as  many  less  general  or  particular  societies 
as  there  are  larger  divisions  in  each  of  the  viscera  and 
organs.   This  shows  plainly  the  natui-e  of  heaveu.  Now 


56 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


because  the  Lord  is  Absolute  Man,  and  heaven  is  his 
image,  therefore  being  in  heaven,  is  called  being  in  the 
Lord. — 

As  man  is  by  creation  a  heaven  in  miniature,  and 
therefore  an  image  of  the  Lord  ;  and  as  heaven  consists 
of  as  many  affections  as  there  are  angels,  each  affection 
being  in  its  form  a  man  ;  it  follows  that  the  continual  pur- 
pose of  the  Divine  Providence  is,  that  man  shall  become 
a  heaven  in  form,  and  therefore  an  image  of  the  Lord  ; 
and  as  this  takes  place  through  affection  for  the  good 
and  true,  that  he  shall  become  that  affection.  This  is 
therefore  the  continual  purpose  of  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence ;  but  its  inmost  purpose  is,  that  man  shall  be 
here  or  there  in  heaven,  or  in  the  divinely-celestial 
man,  for  he  is  thus  in  the  Lord.  But  this  takes  place 
with  those  whom  the  Lord  can  lead  to  heaven.  And 
as  this  is  foreseen  by  the  Lord,  He  also  continually 
provides  for  the  man's  becoming  of  such  a  character; 
for  so  is  every  one  who  suffers  himself  to  be  led  to 
heaven,  prepared  for  his  own  place  there. 

Heaven,  as  stated  above,  is  divided  into  societies  as 
many  as  the  organs,  viscera  and  members  in  man,  and 
of  these  not  one  part  can  occupy  any  place  but  its  own. 
As  the  angels  are  thus  the  parts  of  the  divinely-celestial 
man,  and  none  become  angels  but  those  who  had  been 
men  in  the  world,  it  follows  that  the  man  who  suffers 
himself  to  be  led  to  heaven  is  continually  prepared  by 
the  Lord  for  his  place,  which  is  done  by  means  of  a 
correspondent  affection  for  the  good  and  true.    To  this 


THE  AXGELTC  AND  IXFnilNAL  MAN.  57 


place  also  every  angelic  man  is  assigned  after  his  de- 
parture from  the  world.  This  is  the  inmost  of  the 
Divine  Providence  respecting  heaven. 

But  the  man  who  does  not  suffer  himself  to  be  led 
and  assigned  to  heaven,  is  prepared  for  his  place  in 
hell.  For  man  of  himself  continually  tends  to  the 
lowest  depths  of  hell,  but  is  by  the  Lord  continually 
withheld. — Wherefore  as  an  angelic  man  obtains  his 
place  in  heaven  according  to  affection  for  the  good  and 
true,  so  does  an  infernal  man  obtain  his  place  in  hell 
according  to  affection  for  the  evil  and  false.  This  is 
the  inmost  of  the  Divine  Providence  respecting  hell. 
(D.  P.,  n.  47-69). 


IV. 

THERE  ARE  LAWS  OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  UN- 
KNOWN TO  MAN. 

HE  fact  of  a  Divine  Providence  is  known ; 
but  its  nature  is  unknown.  The  nature  of 
tlie  Divine  Providence  is  unknown,  because 
its  laws  are  mysterious,  hitherto  hidden  in  the 
wisdom  of  the  angels,  but  now  to  be  revealed,  in  order 
that  what  is  the  Lord's  may  be  ascribed  to  Him,  and 
what  is  not  njan's  may  not  be  ascribed  to  him.  For 
in  the  world  the  majority  attribute  all  things  to  them- 
selves and  their  own  prudence ;  and  what  they  cannot 
attribute  to  themselves,  they  call  fortuitous  and  acci- 
dental—  not  knowing  that  human  prudence  is  nothing, 
and  that  "fortuitous"  and  "accidental"  are  unmean- 
ing words.  Tlie  laws  of  the  Divine  Providence  are 
said  to  be  mysterious,  hitherto  hidden  in  the  wisdom 
of  the  angels ;  because  the  understanding  in  the 
Christian  world  is  closed  to  Divine  subjects  by  re- 
ligion, and  h:is  therefore  become  so  obtuse  and  resistant 
in  such  matters,  that  man  cannot  because  he  will  not, 
or  will  not  because  he  cannot,  understand  anything  of 
the  Divine  Providence  beyond  its  mere  existence,  even 
reasoning  as  to  whether  it  exists  or  not,  and  as  to 
whether  it  is  only  universal,  or  also  particular.  The 

58 


LA  WS  OF  DIVtNE  PROVIDENCE. 


59 


uii(lerfitaii(ling  being  closed  to  Divine  subjects  by  re- 
ligion could  adviince  no  further. —  What  the  DivHie 
Providence  is,  therefore,  must  needs  be  revealed.  Yet 
this  cannot  be  done  unless  the  laws  are  disclosed  by 
which  the  Lord  provides  for  and  governs  man's  vol- 
untary and  intellectual  life.  For  these  laws  make 
known  the  nature  of  Providence  ;  and  he  who  knows 
its  nature, —  and  no  one  else, —  can  acknowledge  it,  for 
he  then  sees  it.  For  this  reason  the  laws  of  the  Divine 
Providence,  hitherto  hidden  in  the  wisdom  of  the  angels, 
are  now  disclosed. 


IT  IS  A  LAW  OF  DIVINE  PRO  VIDENCE  THAT  31  AN 
ACT  FROM  FREEDOM  ACCORDING  TO  REASON. 

HAT  man  has  entire  freedom  of  thought  and 
will,  but  not  the  freedom  to  say  what  he  thinks, 
nor  to  do  what  he  will,  is  known.  Therefore 
the  freedom  here  meant  is  spiritual  freedom, 
not  natural,  except  when  the  two  make  one.  For 
thought  and  volition  are  spiritual,  while  speech  and 
action  are  natural  ;  they  are,  moreover,  clearly  distin- 
guished in  man  ;  for  man  may  think  what  he  does  not 
express,  and  have  the  will  to  do  what  he  does  not. — 

By  acting  from  freedom  according  to  reason,  is  meant 
freedom  of  thought  and  will,  and  consequent  freedom  to 
say  and  do  what  is  in  accordance  with  reason. 

But  as  few  know  that  this  can  possibly  be  a  law  of 
Divine  Providence,  —  especially  as  man  thus  has  the 
freedom  of  thinking  wickedly  and  falsely,  while  never- 
theless the  Divine  Providence  continually  leads  him  to 
the  exercise  of  thought  and  will  in  the  good  and  true, — 
therefore  to  make  it  understood,  the  subject  must  be 
approached  step  by  step. — 

I.  —  Man  possesses  reason  and  freedom,  or  rationality 
and  Kberfy,  and  these  two  facidties  are  in  him  from  the 
Lord. — First  it  must  be  known  that  all  freedom  belongs 

CO 


NATURAL  FREEDOM. 


61 


to  love,  insomuch  that  freedom  and  love  are  one.  And 
as  love  is  man's  life,  freedom  belongs  to  his  life  also. 
For  all  of  man's  delight  is  from  his  love ;  there  is  no 
delight  from  any  other  source.  And  to  act  from  the 
delight  of  love  is  to  act  from  freedom  ;  for  delight  leads 
every  man  as  a  river  bears  along  anything  in  its  course. 
Now  as  loves  are  numerous,  —  some  harmonious,  and 
some  discordant, —  it  follows  that  there  are  as  many 
kinds  of  freedom  also  ;  but  in  general  there  are  three, 
natural,  rational  and  spiritual. 

Natural  freedom  is  hereditary  in  every  man.  From 
it  he  loves  nothing  but  himself  and  the  world ;  his  first 
life  is  nothing  else.  And  as  all  evils  derive  their 
existence  from  these  two  loves,  and  consequently  also 
become  objects  of  love,  it  follows  that  man's  natural 
freedom  is  the  exercise  of  thought  and  will  in  evils  ; 
and  that  when  he  has  confirmed  them  in  himself  by 
reasonings,  he  does  evil  from  freedom  according  to  his 
own  reason.  So  to  act  is  from  his  faculty  which  is 
called  liberty ;  and  to  confirm  evil  is  from  his  faculty 
which  is  called  rationality.  For  example :  it  is  from 
the  love  into  which  a  man  is  born,  that  he  desires  to 
commit  adultery,  to  defraud,  to  blaspheme,  to  be  re- 
vengeful. And  when  he  confirms  these  evils  in  himself, 
and  so  makes  them  allowable,  then,  from  the  delight 
of  his  love  for  them,  freely,  as  if  according  to  reason, 
he  practices  them  in  thought  and  will ;  and  so  far  as 
civil  laws  do  not  prevent,  he  speaks  and  acts  accord- 
ingly. It  is  from  the  Lord's  Divine  Providence  that 
6 


62 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


man  should  be  allowed  so  to  act,  because  he  possesses 
freedom  or  liberty. 

Rational  freedom  is  from  the  love  of  reputation,  for 
the  sake  of  honor  or  wealth.  The  delight  of  this  love 
is  to  appear  externally  like  a  moral  man ;  and  because 
the  man  loves  to  be  so  reputed,  he  does  not  defraud, 
commit  adultery,  nor  take  revenge,  nor  blaspheme ;  and 
as  he  rationally  adopts  this  course  from  freedom  ac- 
cording to  his  reason,  he  also  acts  sincerely,  justly, 
cliastely,  amicably ;  nay,  more,  he  can  from  reason 
speak  well  in  favor  of  such  action.  But  if  his  ration- 
ality is  only  natural,  and  not  at  the  same  time  spiritual, 
that  freedom  is  only  external  freedom,  not  internal ; 
for  he  is  none  the  less  interiorly  devoid  of  love  for  that 
goodness,  but  loves  it  exteriorly  only,  for  the  sake  of 
reputation.  Wherefore  the  good  he  does  is  not  good  in 
itself.  He  may  even  say  that  it  ought  to  be  done  for 
the  public  welfare ;  but  he  says  so,  not  from  love  of 
the  public  welfare,  but  for  the  sake  of  his  own  honor 
or  profit.  His  freedom,  therefore,  derives  nothing  from 
love  of  the  public  welfare,  nor  his  reason,  since  this 
assents  to  his  love.  This  rational  freedom  is,  therefore, 
interiorly  natural  freedom.  This  freedom  also  is  left 
to  every  man  by  the  Lord's  Divine  Providence. 

Spiritual  freedom  is  from  the  love  of  eternal  life. 
Into  this  love  and  its  delight  none  enter,  except  those 
who  regard  evils  as  sins,  and  therefore  in  will  oppose 
them,  and  at  the  same  time  look  to  the  Lord.  So  soon 
as  man  does  this,  he  is  in  that  freedom ;  for  no  one  can 


SPIRITUAL  FREEDOJf. 


63 


in  will  oppose  evils  because  they  are  sins,  and  therefore 
not  do  evil,  unless  from  an  interior  or  higher  freedom, 
which  is  from  his  interior  or  higher  love.  This  freedom 
does  not  at  firet  seem  to  be  freedom.  Yet  it  is  freedom, 
and  afterwards  seems  such ;  and  then  man  acts  from 
this  freedom  and  according  to  true  reason,  by  practising 
the  good  and  true  in  thought,  will,  speech  and  action. 
This  freedom  increases  as  natural  freedom  decreases  and 
becomes  subservient ;  and  it  unites  with  rational  free- 
dom and  purifies  it.  Any  one  may  enter  into  this  free- 
dom, if  he  will  but  think  that  life  is  eternal,  and  that 
the  temporary  delight  and  happiness  of  life  in  time  is 
but  like  a  fleeting  shadow,  comjmred  with  the  eternal 
delight  and  happiness  of  life  to  eternity.  Man  may 
think  this  if  he  will,  because  he  has  rationality  and 
liberty,  and  because  the  Lord,  from  whom  these  two 
faculties  are  derived,  continually  gives  him  the  power. 

II. —  Whatever  a  man  does  from,  freedom,  whether  it  is 
of  reason  or  not,  provided  it  is  according  to  his  reason, 
appears  to  him  as  his  own.  The  nature  of  the  rationality 
and  liberty  which  are  peculiar  to  man,  cannot  be  better 
understood  than  by  a  comparison  of  man  with  animals. 
There  is  within  every  created  thing,  a  something  capa- 
ble of  relation  to  the  marriage  of  the  good  and  true. 
In  animals  there  is  a  marriage  of  affection  and  knowl- 
edge,—  affection  in  them  belonging  to  natural  goodness, 
and  knowledge  to  natural  truth.  Now  as  affection  and 
knowledge  in  them  act  perfectly  as  one,  and  their  affec- 
tion cannot  be  elevated  above  their  knowledge,  nor  their 


64 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRAKY. 


knowledge  above  their  affection  (and  they  are  elevated 
both  together,  if  at  all) ;  and  as  they  have  no  spiritual 
mind,  into  which,  or  into  the  light  and  heat  of  which 
they  may  be  elevated;  therefore  they  do  not  possess 
the  faculty  of  understanding,  or  rationality,  nor  the 
faculty  of  free  volition,  or  liberty,  but  merely  natural 
affection  with  its  knowledge.  The  natural  affection 
they  possess  is  an  affection  for  providing  themselves 
food,  shelter  and  offspring,  for  escaping  and  avoiding 
injury,  with  all  the  knowledge  requisite  therefor. 
They  are  borne  along  by  their  affection  [acting] 
through  its  knowledge  without  rationality  and  liberty. 
Tlieir  being  so  borne  along  is  not  from  the  natural  but 
from  the  spiritual  world.  For  there  does  not  exist  any 
thing  in  the  natural  world  unconnected  with  the  spirit- 
ual world.  Every  cause  producing  an  effect  is  from 
that  source.  — 

Although  all  perception  and  consequent  thought  and 
knowledge,  and  all  volition  and  action  according  to 
perception,  flow  into  man,  it  is  yet  of  the  Lord's  Di- 
vine Providence  that  they  should  seem  to  be  man's 
own  ;  for  otherwise,  as  has  been  stated,  man  would  not 
receive,  thus  could  not  be  gifted  with  any  intelligence 
and  wisdom.  It  is  known  that  all  that  is  good  and  true 
is  not  man's,  but  the  Lord's,  and  that  yet  it  appears  to 
man  to  be  his ;  and  as  all  that  is  good  and  true  so  ap- 
pears, so  does  all  that  belongs  to  the  church  and  to 
heaven,  conseqifcntly  all  that  belongs  to  love  and  wis- 
dom, also  to  charity  and  faith  ;  nevertheless,  nothing 


MAN'S  SPIRITUAL  APl'ItOPRIATlONS.  65 


belonging  to  them  is  man's.  No  one  can  receive  thera 
from  the  Lord,  unless  he  seems  to  himself  to  have  a 
perception  of  them  i'rora  himself.  From  this  will  be 
evident  the  truth  of  the  statement,  that  whatever  man 
does  from  freedom,  whether  it  is  of  reason  or  not,  pro- 
vided it  is  in  accordance  with  his  reason,  seems  to  him 
to  be  his  own. 

III. —  Whatever  man  does  from  freedom  according  to 
his  own  thought^  is  appropriated  to  him  as  his  own,  and 
remains.  Man  acts  from  freedom  according  to  thought, 
for  the  reason  that  whatever  belongs  to  his  life  or  love, 
is  also  the  subject  of  his  thought,  and  is  confirmed  by  his 
thought ;  and  when  confirmed,  he  does  it  from  freedom 
according  to  thought.  For  whatever  man  does  he  does 
from  the  will  through  the  understanding ;  and  freedom 
belongs  to  the  will,  and  thought  to  the  understanding. 
Man  can  also  from  freedom  act  contrary  to  reason ; 
again,  he  can  act  not  from  freedom  according  to  reason. 
But  such  actions  are  not  appropriated  to  man ;  they 
belong  only  to  his  lips  and  body,  and  not  to  his  spirit 
or  heart;  but  whatever  belongs  to  his  spirit  and  heart, 
when  it  becomes  of  the  lips  and  body  also,  is  appropri- 
ated to  him.  By  being  appropriated  to  man  is  meant 
to  enter  into  and  become  part  of  his  life,  consequently 
part  of  his  selfhood. — 

What  a  man  does  from  freedom  according  to  his 
thought  is  also  said  to  remain,  for  nothing  that  man 
has  appropriated  can  be  eradicated ;  because  it  becomes 
a  part  of  both  his  love  and  reason,  or  of  both  his  will 
6*  E 


66 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


and  understanding,  and  consequently  part  of  his  life. 
It  may  be  removed,  indeed,  but  cannot  be  wholly 
ejected ;  and  when  it  is  removed,  it  is  as  if  transferred 
from  the  centre  to  the  circumference,  and  there  it  stays. 
This  is  meant  by  its  remaining. 

For  example :  if  a  man  has  in  boyhood  or  youth 
appropriated  to  himself  certain  evils  by  practising 
them  from  his  love's  delight,  as  fraud,  blasphemy, 
revenge,  fornication  ;  then  as  he  had  practised  them 
from  freedom  according  to  thought,  he  has  also  appro- 
priated them.  But  if  he  afterwards  repents,  shuns 
those  evils,  and , regards  them  as  sins  which  ought  to 
be  held  in  aversion,  and  thus  from  freedom  according 
to  reason  abstains  from  them,  he  then  appropriates  to 
himself  the  good  which  is  opposed  to  those  evils. 
This  good  then  becomes  central,  and  removes  the 
evils  towards  the  circumference,  further  and  further 
according  as  the  man  dislikes  and  turns  away  from 
them.  But  yet  they  cannot  be  so  utterly  ejected  as  to 
be  called  extirpated,  although  by  this  removal  tlioy 
may  seem  to  be  so.  This  is  because  tlie  man  is  with- 
held from  evil  by  the  Lord,  and  kept  in  good ;  this 
takes  place  with  all  hereditary  evil,  and  in  like  manner 
with  all  of  man's  actual  evil.  This  I  have  even  seen 
proved  by  the  experience  of  some  in  heaven,  who,  be- 
cause they  were  kept  in  good  by  the  Lord,  thought 
themselves  free  from  evil.  But  lest  they  should  believe 
that  the  good  in  which  they  were  was  their  own,  they 
were  lowered  from  heaven,  and  let  into  their  evils, 


^yIIAr  ackxowledgmext  effects. 


67 


until  tliey  acknowledged  that  they  were  in  evil  from 
themselves,  and  in  good  from  the  Lord.  After  this 
acknowledgment  tiiey  were  restored  to  heaven.  Let  it 
be  understood,  therefore,  that  this  good  is  not  appropri- 
ated to  man,  except  as  being  always  the  Lord's  in  him  ; 
and  that  so  far  as  man  acknowledges  this,  the  Lord 
gives  to  him  the  appearance  that  the  good  is  his  own ; 
that  is.  He  makes  it  appear  to  man  as  though  he  loved 
his  neighbor  or  possessed  charity  from  himself;  believed 
or  possessed  faith  from  himself;  did  good  and  under- 
stood truth,  thus  were  wise,  from  himself.  From  which 
an  enlightened  person  may  see  the  nature  and  strength 
of  the  appearance  in  which  the  Lord  wishes  man  to 
be  ;  and  this  He  wishes  for  the  sake  of  man's  salvation  ; 
for  without  this  appearance  no  one  could  be  saved. 

Nothing  is  appropriated  to  man  of  which  he  merely 
thinks,  nor  even  what  he  thinks  is  his  will,  unless  it  is 
also  his  will  so  far  that  he  does  it  if  opportunity  offers. 
This  is  because  when  man  so  does  it,  he  does  it  from 
the  will  through  the  understanding,  or  from  the  will's 
affection  through  the  thought  of  the  understanding; 
while  so  long  as  it  is  a  subject  of  thought  only,  it  can- 
not be  appropriated,  because  the  understanding  docs 
not  unite  with  the  will. — 

The  evil  wiiich  a  man  thinks  allowable  is  also  appro- 
priated to  him,  even  though  he  commits  it  not ;  fur 
what  is  allowable  in  thought  is  so  from  the  will,  because 
they  harmonize.  Therefore  when  man  believes  any 
evil  allowable,  he  releases  it  from  internal  restraint, 


68 


THE  SWEDENBOnO  LIBRARY. 


and  is  witliheld  from  the  commission  of  it  by  external 
restraints  only,  which  are  fears.  And  because  his  spirit 
favors  that  evil,  therefore  he  commits  it  from  his  allow- 
ance of  it,  whenever  external  restraints  are  removed. 
Meanwhile  he  commits  it  in  spirit  continually. 

IV. —  Man  by  means  of  these  two  faculties  is  reformed 
arid  regenerated  by  the  Lord,  and  without  them  cannot  be 
reformed  and  regenerated. —  No  one  can  enter  the  king- 
dom of  God  except  he  be  born  again,  because  man,  by 
the  hereditary  nature  he  derives  from  his  parents,  is 
born  into  all  kinds  of  evils,  with  the  capacity  for  be- 
coming spiritual  by  the  removal  of  these  evils ;  and 
unless  he  becomes  spiritual  he  cannot  enter  into 
heaven. — 

Man  is  reformed  and  regenerated  by  means  of  the 
two  faculties  called  rationality  and  liberty,  and  cannot 
be  reformed  and  regenerated  without  them,  because  by 
rationality,  he  can  understand,  and  know  what  is  evil 
and  what  is  good,  and  therefore  what  is  false  and  what 
is  true ;  ajud  by  liberty  he  may  in  will  favor  what  he 
understands  and  knows.  But  so  long  as  the  delight  of 
the  love  of  evil  predominates,  his  will  cannot  freely 
favor  what  is  good  and  true,  and  he  cannot  rationally 
adopt  it ;  therefore  he  cannot  appropriate  it.  For,  as 
shown  above,  man  appropriates  as  his  own  whatever 
he  does  from  freedom  according  to  reason,  and  without 
such  appropriation  [of  the  good  and  true]  he  is  not 
reformed  and  regenerated.  He  first  acts  from  the  de- 
light of  the  good  and  true,  when  the  delight  of  the 


WffAT  IS  CENTRAL  GOVERNS. 


69 


evil  and  false  is  removed  ;  for  two  kinds  of  delight 
from  love,  opposed  each  to  the  other,  cannot  exist  sim- 
ultaneously. To  act  from  love's  delight  is  to  act  from 
freedom ;  and  as  reason  favors  love,  it  is  also  to  act 
according  to  reason. 

As  all  meu,  evil  and  good  alike,  possess  rationality 
and  liberty,  a  bad  man  and  a  good  one  can  equally 
understand  truth  and  do  good  ;  but  a  bad  man  cannot 
do  so  from  freedom  according  to  reason,  while  a  good 
man  can ;  because  a  bad  man  is  in  the  delight  of  the 
love  of  evil,  while  a  good  man  is  in  the  delight  of  the 
love  of  the  good.  Therefore  the  truth  which  a  bad 
man  understands,  and  the  good  he  does,  are  not  appro- 
priated to  him  ;  but  to  a  good  man  they  are ;  and  with- 
out the  appropriation  of  those  as  man's  own,  there  is 
no  reformation  and  regeneration.  For  in  the  wicked 
the  evil  and  false  are  at  the  centre,  and  the  good  and 
true  at  the  circumference ;  while  in  the  good,  the  good 
and  true  are  at  the  centre,  and  the  evil  and  false  at  the 
circumference :  and  in  both  cases,  that  which  is  central 
flows  out  to  the  very  circumference,  as  heat  ft-om  a 
central  fire,  or  cold  from  a  central  gelidity.  Thus  in 
the  wicked  the  good  at  the  circumference  is  corrupted 
by  the  evil  at  the  centre ;  aud  in  the  good  the  evil  at 
the  circumference  is  moderated  by  the  good  at  the 
centre. 

V. —  Man  may  he  reformed  and  regenerated  by  means 
of  these  two  faculties,  so  fur  as  he  can  by  them  be  led  to 
acknowledge  that  everything  good  and  true  in  his  thought 


70 


THE  SWEDENTiORG  LIBRARY. 


and  action,  is  from  the  Lord,  and  not  from  himself. — 
From  rationality  man  has  tlic  power  of  understanding, 
and  from  liberty  the  power  of  volition,  each  power 
apparently  his  own ;  but  the  power  of  will  to  freely 
fivvor  the  good,  and  therefore  according  to  reason  to  do 
it,  none  but  a  regenerate  man  can  possess.  A  wicked 
man  has  power  of  will  to  freely  favor  evil  only,  and, 
according  to  thought  which  by  coufirmatiou  his  reason 
adopts,  to  do  it.  For  evil  may  be  confirmed  equally  as 
well  as  good,  but  by  fallacies  and  appearances,  which 
when  confirmed  become  falsities ;  and  when  evil  is  con- 
firmed, it  seems  to  be  accordant  with  reason.  — 

To  all  power  there  must  be  a  [source  of]  supply  to 
be  imparted,  and  thus  a  determination  from  a  source 
interior  or  superior  to  itself.  The  eye  cannot  see  from 
itself,  nor  the  ear  hear  from  itself,  nor  the  mouth  speak, 
uor  the  hand  act,  each  from  itself ;  they  must  obtain  a 
supply  of  power  and  consequent  determination  from  the 
mind.  Nor  can  the  mind  exercise  thought  or  volition 
from  itself,  in  anything,  without  the  existence  of  some- 
thing interior  or  superior,  which  so  determines  the  mind. 
It  is  the  same  with  the  power  of  understanding  and  vo- 
lition :  they  are  impossible  from  any  other  than  Him 
who  has  in  Himself  the  power  of  volition  and  under- 
standing. From  which  it  is  plain  that  the  two  faculties 
called  rationality  and  liberty  are  from  the  Lord,  and 
not  from  man.  And  since  they  are  from  the  Lord,  it 
follows  that  man  has  of  himself  no  volition  and  no 
understanding;  they  only  seem  to  be  from  himself. 


THE  LORD'S  GREAT  GIFT. 


71 


Any  one  may  convince  himself  of  the  truth  of  this, 
who  knows  and  believes  that  the  will  of  every  good 
and  the  understanding  of  every  truth,  are  from  the 
Lord,  and  not  from  man.  That  man  can  receive 
nothing  of  himself,  and  do  nothing  of  himself,  the 
Word  teaches  in  John  iii.  27  ;  xv.  5. 

Now  as  all  volition  is  from  love,  and  all  understand- 
'ing  from  wisdom,  it  follows  that  the  power  of  volition 
is  from  the  divine  love,  and  that  of  understanding  from 
the  divine  wisdom  ;  both,  therefore,  from  the  Lord,  who 
is  divine  love  itself  and  divine  wisdom  itself.  It  fol- 
lows, that  to  act  from  freedom  according  to  reason  has 
no  other  origin.  Every  one  acts  according  to  reason, 
because  freedom,  like  love,  is  inseparable  from  volition. 
But  in  man  there  exists  interior  volition,  and  exterior 
volition,  and  he  can  act  according  to  the  former,  and 
not  at  the  same  time  according  to  the  latter;  so  do 
hypocrites  act,  and  flatterers. 

It  is  said  that  man  may  be  reformed  and  regenerated 
so  fur  as  he  can,  by  means  of  these  two  faculties,  be  led 
to  acknowledge  that  everything  good  and  true  in  his 
thought  and  actions  is  from  the  Lord  and  not  from 
himself  He  cannot  be  led  to  this  acknowledgment 
except  by  means  of  these  two  faculties,  because  these 
are  from  the  Lord,  and  are  the  Lord's  in  man.  It 
therefore  follows  that  man  cannot  of  himself,  make  the 
acknowledgment  but  from  the  Lord.  But  still  he  may 
do  it  as  if  of  himself ;  this  power  the  Lord  gives  to 
every  one.    It  may  be  that  the  man  believes  be  does  it 


72 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LrBRMtY. 


of  himself,  yet  when  he  is  wise  he  will  acknowledge 
that  he  does  not.  Otherwise  the  truth  in  his  thought 
and  the  good  he  does  are  not  true  and  good  in  them- 
selves ;  for  the  man,  and  not  the  Lord,  is  in  them. 

But  that  an  acknowledgment  of  the  Lord,  and  an 
acknowledgment  that  everything  good  and  true  is  from 
Him,  effects  man's  reformation  and  regeneration,  is  what 
few  can  intelligently  see  ;  for  it  may  be  asked,  What  ef- 
ficacy is  there  in  that  acknowledgment,  since  the  Lord 
is  omnipotent,  and  desires  the  salvation  of  all,  and  is 
therefore  able  and  willing  [to  save  all],  if  He  is  but 
moved  to  mercy  ?  But  such  thought  is  not  from  the 
Lord,  nor  is  it  from  any  interior  intellectual  sight  — 
that  is,  from  any  enlightenment.  Therefore  the  effect 
of  acknowledgment  shall  be  briefly  stated. 

In  the  spiritual  world,  where  space  is  only  an  appear- 
ance, wisdom  effects  presence,  and  love  effects  union ; 
and  vice  versd.  There  is  an  acknowledgment  of  the 
Lord  from  wisdom,  and  an  acknowledgment  of  Him 
from  love.  An  acknowledgment  of  the  Lord  from  wis- 
dom, which  acknowledgment  viewed  in  itself  is  mere 
recognition,  exists  from  doctrine  ;  while  an  acknowl- 
edgment of  Him  from  love  exists  from  a  life  according 
to  doctrine;  this  effects  union,  but  that,  presence.  It  is 
for  this  reason  that  they  who  reject  the  doctrine  of  the 
Lord  remove  themselves  from  Him  :  and  as  they  also 
reject  life,  they  separate  themselves  from  Him;  while 
they  who  do  not  reject  doctrine  but  life,  are  present  but 
still  separated.  —  The  truth  of  this  is  also  known  from 


THE  LORD'S  UNION  WITH  MAN. 


73 


the  common  belief,  that  he  who  both  teaches  and  lives 
well  is  saved,  while  he  who  teaches  truly  and  lives 
badly  is  not ;  and  furthermore,  that  he  Avho  does  not 
acknowledge  God,  cannot  be  saved.  This  will  show 
what  kind  of  religion  it  is,  to  think  of  God  from  faith, 
as  it  is  called,  and  not  to  do  anything  from  charity. 
Wherefore  the  Lord  says :  "  Why  call  ye  me,  Lord, 
Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which  I  say  ?  Whosoever 
cometh  to  me,  and  heareth  my  sayings,  and  doeth  them, 
.  .  is  like  a  man  that  built  a  house,  .  .  and  laid  the 
foundation  on  a  rock.  .  .  But  he  that  heareth  and 
doeth  not,  is  like  a  man  that  without  a  foundation  built 
a  house  upon  the  earth."   Luke  vi.  46-49. 

VI. —  The  Lord's  union  with  man,  and  the  reciprocal 
union  of  man  with  the  Lord,  is  effected  by  means  of  these 
tivo  faculties.  Union  with  the  Lord  and  regeneration 
are  one  ;  for  so  far  as  any  one  is  united  to  the  Lord  he 
is  regenerated.  That  there  is  a  union  of  the  Lord  with 
man,  and  a  reciprocal  union  of  man  with  the  Lord,  the 
Lord  himself  teaches  in  John :  "Abide  in  me,  and  I  in 
you.  .  .  He  that  abideth  in  me,  and  I  in  him,  the  same 
bringeth  forth  much  fruit,"  xv.  4,  5.  "  At  that  day  ye 
shall  know  that  I  am  in  my  Father,  and  ye  in  me,  and 
I  in  you,"  xvi.  20.  Any  one  may  see  from  reason  alone 
that  there  is  no  union  of  feeling  unless  it  is  reciprocal, 
and  that  reciprocation  unites.  If  any  one  loves  another 
and  is  not  loved  in  return,  then  as  he  advances  the  other 
withdraws ;  but  if  he  is  loved  in  return,  then  as  he  ad- 
vances the  other  advances,  and  union  is  eflected.  More- 
7 


74 


THE  SWEDEN BORG  LIBRARY. 


over,  love  desires  to  be  loved ;  this  is  implanted  in  it ; 
and  so  for  as  it  is  loved  in  return,  it  is  in  itself  and  iu 
its  own  delight.  It  is  therefore  evident  that  if  the  Lord 
loved  man  only,  and  were  not  loved  by  man  in  return, 
the  Lord  would  advance,  and  man  withdraw ;  thus  the 
Lord  would  continually  desire  to  draw  near  to  man  and 
enter  into  him,  and  man  would  turn  back  and  go  away. 
This  is  the  case  with  those  in  hell ;  while  with  those  in 
heaven  there  is  mutual  union. 

Since  the  Lord  desires  union  with  man  for  the  sake 
of  his  salvation,  He  also  provides  for  the  existence  of 
reciprocality  in  man.  Man's  reciprocality  is  this,  that 
the  good  which  his  will  favors  and  which  he  does  from 
freedom,  and  the  truth  of  which  he  thinks  and  speaks 
from  that  volition  according  to  reason,  seem  to  be  from 
himself ;  and  that  this  good  iu  his  will  and  this  truth 
in  liis  understanding  seem  to  be  his  own  ;  nay,  more, 
they  seem  to  man  to  be  from  himself  and  his  own,  pre- 
cisely as  though  they  wei-e  his  own.  Yet  he  ought  to 
acknowledge  that  he  does  not  do  good  nor  think  truth 
from  himself,  but  from  the  Lord;  and  that  therefore 
the  good  in  his  actions  and  the  truth  in  his  thoughts 
are  not  his  own.  So  to  think,  with  any  degree  of  love 
from  the  will,  because  it  is  the  truth,  effects  union. 

The  nature  of  the  difference  between  those  who  be- 
lieve that  all  good  is  from  the  Lord,  and  those  who 
believe  that  it  is  from  themselves,  I  have  been  per- 
mitted both  to  hear  and  see  in  the  spiritual  world. 
They  who  believe  that  good  is  from  the  Lord,  turn  their 


LOVE  OF  THE  NETdHnOR. 


75 


faces  to  Him  and  receive  the  delight  and  bliss  of  good- 
ness ;  while  they  who  believe  that  it  is  from  themselves, 
regard  themselves,  and  think  within  themselves  that 
they  have  merited  it.  And  because  they  regard  them- 
selves, they  can  have  no  perception  of  any  delight  but 
that  of  their  own  goodness,  which  is  not  the  delight  of 
good  but  of  evil.  For  man's  selfhood  is  evil,  and  the 
delight  of  evil  perceived  as  good  is  hell.  They  who 
have  done  good  believing  it  to  be  from  themselves,  if 
they  do  not  after  death  receive  the  truth  that  all  good 
is  from  the  Lord,  mingle  with  infernal  genii,  and  at 
length  make  one  with  them  ;  while  they  who  do  receive 
this  truth  are  reformed.  But  none  receive  it  except 
those  who  have  regarded  God  in  their  lives.  To  regard 
God  in  their  lives,  is  simply  to  shun  evils  as  sins. 

The  Lord's  union  with  man  and  the  reciprocal  union 
of  man  with  the  Lord  is  effected  by  man's  loving  his 
neighbor  as  himself,  and  the  Lord  above  all  things. 
To  love  his  neighbor  as  himself  is  simply  not  to  act  to- 
wards him  with  insincerity  or  injustice,  not  to  hold  him 
in  hati-ed  or  to  burn  with  revenge  against  him,  not  to 
revile  or  defame  him,  not  to  commit  adultery  with  his 
wife,  and  not  to  do  other  similar  things  against  him.- 
Who  cannot  see  that  they  who  do  these  things,  do  not 
love  the  neighbor  as  themselves?  While  they  who  do 
them  not,  because  they  are  evils  against  the  neighbor, 
and  at  the  same  time  sins  against  the  Lord,  act  sin- 
cerely, justly,  amicably  and  faithfully  with  the  neigh- 
bor ;  and  as  the  Lord  does  likewise,  a  reciprocal  union 


76 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


is  effected.  And  when  there  exists  a  reciprocal  union, 
wliatever  man  does  towards  his  neighbor,  he  does  from 
the  Lord  ;  and  whatever  he  does  from  the  Lord  is  good. 
Then  the  neighbor  is  not  to  him  a  person,  but  the  good 
iu  the  person.  To  love  the  Lord  above  all  things  is 
simply  to  do  no  evil  to  the  Word,  because  the  Lord  ia 
ill  the  Word  ;-nor  to  the  sacred  things  of  the  Church, 
because  the  Lord  is  in  them  ;  nor  to  the  soul  of  any  one, 
because  every  one's  soul  is  in  the  Lord's  hand.  They  who 
shun  these  evils  as  enormous  sins,  love  the  Lord  above 
all  things;  but  they  only  can  do  this,  who  love  the 
neighbor  as  themselves ;  for  [these  loves]  are  united. 

■  As  there  is  a  union  of  the  Lord  with  man  and  of  man 
with  the  Lord,  there  are  therefore  two  tables  of  the 
law ;  one  for  the  Lord  and  the  other  for  man.  So  far 
as  man  keeps  the  laws  of  his  table  as  if  of  himself,  the 
Lord  enables  him  to  keep  the  laws  of  His  table.  But 
the  man  who  does  not  keep  the  laws  of  his  table,  all  of 
which  refer  to  love  of  the  neighbor,  cannot  keep  the 
laws  of  the  Lord's  table,  all  of  which  refer  to  love  of 
the  Lord.  How  can  a  murderer,  thief,  adulterer  and 
false  witness,  love  the  Lord?  Is  it  not  the  dictate  of 
reason,  that  to  be  of  such  a  character  and  to  love  the 
Lord  are  contradictory  ?  Is  not  this  the  nature  of  the 
devil?  Can  he  do  otherwise  than  hate  God?  But 
when  man  turns  from  murder,  adultery,  theft  and  false 
witness  as  infernal,  he  can  do  otherwise ;  for  he  then 
turns  his  face  from  the  devil  to  the  Lord  ;  and  when  he 
turns  his  face  to  the  Lord,  love  and  wisdom  are  given 


THE  TWO  HUMAN  FACULTIES. 


77 


to  liim.  As  union  with  tlie  Lord  is  effected  thus  and 
not  otherwise,  therefore  these  two  tables  are  called  a 
covenant,  and  a  covenant  exists  between  two. 

VII. —  27ie  Lord  guards  these  hvo  faculties  in  man,  un- 
hurt and  as  saered,  in  every  step  of  his  Divine  Provi- 
dence.—  This  is  because  without  these  faculties,  man 
would  not  possess  will  and  understanding,  and  thus 
would  not  be  man.  These  faculties  unite  in  him  like 
the  will  and  understanding  in  this  respect:  that,  be- 
cause man  has  the  power  of  volition,  he  also  has  the 
power  of  understanding,  for  volition  without  under- 
standing does  not  exist ;  understanding  is  its  consort  or 
counterpart,  without  which  it  cannot  exist.  Wherefore, 
along  with  the  faculty  called  liberty  is  given  that 
called  rationality.  Moreover,  if  you  take  volition  from 
understanding,  you  will  understand  nothing. — You  can 
understand  in  proportion  to  your  will, —  that  is,  so  far 
as  you  love  to  understand  ;  for  the  will  and  love  act  as 
one.  This  may  seem  absurd ;  but  it  seems  so  to  those 
who  do  not  love  to  understand,  and  therefore  do  not  de- 
sire it ;  and  because  they  do  not  desire,  they  say  they 
are  unable.  But  who  cannot  understand,  and  who  can 
understand  only  with  difficulty,  will  be  explained  in  the 
next  proposition. — 

Man  without  these  two  faculties  could  not  have  been 
united  to  the  Lord,  and  so  could  not  have  been  reformed 
and  regenerated.  For  the  Lord  is  resident  with  men, 
both  evil  and  good,  in  these  two  faculties  ;  and  through 
them  unites  Himself  to  every  man.  Therefore  both  a 
7* 


78 


THE  SWEDEXnORG  LIP.RART. 


wicked  and  a  good  man  can  understand,  and  therefore 
they  possess  in  potency  the  will  to  favor  the  good,  and 
the  understanding  of  the  true.  That  they  do  not  pos- 
sess them  actually,  is  from  the  abuse  of  these  faculties. 
That  the  Lord  is  resident  with  every  man  in  these  two 
faculties  is  from  the  influx  of  his  will,  which  is  a  desire 
to  be  received  by  man,  to  have  his  abode  in  him,  and 
to  give  him  the  felicity  of  eternal  life.  This  is  of  the 
Lord's  will,  because  it  is  of  his  Divine  Love.  It  is  this 
will  of  the  Lord  which  causes  the  appearance  in  man 
that  his  thoughts,  words,  volitions  and  actions  are  his 
own.  That  the  influx  of  the  Lord's  will  causes  this 
[appearance],  may  be  abundantly  proven  from  the 
s])i ritual  world;  for  sometimes  the  Lord  fills  an  angel 
with  his  Divine,  so  that  the  angel  knows  not  but  that 
he  is  the  Lord.  So  were  the  angels  filled  who  were 
seen  by  Abraham,  Hagar,  and  Gideon,  and  who  there- 
fore called  themselves  Jehovah  ;  of  whom  in  the  Word. 
One  spirit  may  also  be  so  filled  with  another  as  not  to 
know  but  that  he  is  the  other.  This  I  have  seen  very 
often.  It  is  known  in  heaven,  moreover,  that  the  Lord 
produces  all  things  by  volition,  and  that  what  He  wills 
is  done.  From  this  it  is  plain,  that  it  is  by  these  two 
faculties  that  the  Lord  unites  Himself  to  man,  and  by 
them  that  He  causes  man  to  be  reciprocally  united  to 
Him.— 

That  man  without  these  two  faculties  would  not  pos- 
sess immortality  and  eternal  life,  follows  from  the  state- 
ments just  made,  viz.:  that  through  them  he  is  united 


THESE  FACULTIES  SACREDLY  GUAHDED. 


79 


to  the  Lord,  and  is  also  reformed  aud  regenerated.  By 
this  union  man  has  immortality,  and  by  reformation 
and^  regeneration,  eternal  life.  And  because  through 
these  faculties  exists  a  union  of  the  Lord  with  every 
man,  the  evil  and  the  good  alike,  therefore  every  man 
has  immortality.  But  life  eternal, —  that  is,  the  life  of 
heaven, —  belongs  to  the  man  in  whom  there  is  a  recip- 
rocal union  from  inmosts  to  ultimates.  From  these 
statements  may  appear  the  reasons  why  the  Lord 
guards  these  faculties  in  man,  unhurt  aud  as  sacred,  in 
every  step  of  his  Divine  Providence. 

VIII. — It  u  therefore  of  the  Divine  Providence  that 
man  should  act  from  freedom  according  to  reason.  It  is 
one  thing  to  act  from  freedom  according  to  reason,  and 
another  to  act  from  freedom  itself  according  to  reason 
itself;  since  the  man  who  does  evil  from  the  love  of 
evil,  and  confirms  it  in  himself,  really  acts  from  fi'ee- 
dom  according  to  reason  ;  but  still  his  freedom  is  not  ia 
itself  free,  or  freedom  itself,  but  is  infernal  freedom 
which  in  itself  is  servitude  ;  and  his  reason  is  not  reason 
in  itself,  but  is  spurious  or  false,  or  seems  to  be  reason 
by  confirmations.  Yet  each  is  of  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence ;  for  if  freedom  of  volition  in  evil,  and  the  power 
to  make  evil  appear  reasonable  by  confirmations,  Avere 
taken  from  man,  his  liberty  and  rationality  would  perish, 
and  at  the  same  time  his  will  and  understanding,  and 
he  could  not  be  withdrawn  from  evils  and  reformed ; 
thus  he  could  not  be  united  to  the  Lord  aud  live 
for  ever.    Wherefore  the  Lord  guards  freedom  in  man, 


80  THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 

as  man  guards  the  apple  of  his  eye.  But  yet  through 
freedom  He  continually  withdraws  man  from  evil  ;  and 
so  far  as  he  can  be  withdrawn  in  freedom,  the  Lord 
through  freedom  implants  good.  Thus  in  the  place 
of  infernal  freedom  He  gradually  introduces  heavenly 
freedom.  — 

The  faculties  of  liberty  and  rationality  are  apparently 
innate  in  man  ;  for  his  very  humanity  resides  in  them. 
But  none  act  from  true  freedom  according  to  true  rea- 
son, except  those  who  suffer  themselves  to  be  regener- 
ated by  the  Lord  ;  all  others  act  from  freedom  accord- 
ing to  thought,  to  which  they  give  the  semblance  of 
reason.  Yet  every  man,  unless  born  foolish  or  exces- 
sively stupid,  may  attain  to  the  possession  of  true 
reason,  and  by  it  of  true  freedom.  That  all  do  not 
attain  to  them,  arises  from  many  causes,  which  shall  be 
disclosed  hereafter.  Here  we  shall  only  state  who  they 
are,  with  whom  true  freedom  or  liberty  itself,  and  at 
the  same  time  true  reason  or  rationality  itself,  are  pos- 
sible, and  to  whom  they  are  hardly  possible. 

True  liberty  and  rationality  are  impossible  with  those 
born  foolish,  or  with  those  made  foolish  after  birth  so 
long  as  they  remain  so.  They  are  impossible  with 
those  born  stupid  and  gross,  and  with  those  made  so  by 
the  torpor  of  idleness,  or  by  sickness  which  perverts  or 
wholly  closes  the  interiors  of  the  mind,  or  by  the  love 
of  an  animal  life.  They  are  impossible  with  those  in 
the  Christian  world  who  totally  deny  the  Lord's  Di- 
vinity, and  the  holiness  of  the  Word,  and  maintain  this 


now  TO  BECOME  FREE  AND  EATIOXAL.  81 


denial  confirmed  in  themselves  until  the  end  of  life; 
for  this  is  what  is  meant  by  the  sin  against  tlie  Holy- 
Spirit,  which  is  not  forgiven,  either  in  this  world,  or  iii 
the  world  to  come.  Matt.  xii.  31,  32.  They  are  im- 
possible with  those  who  attribute  all  things  to  nature 
and  nothing  to  the  Divine,  and  by  reasoning  from 
things  visible  make  this  their  faith ;  for  they  are 
atheists.  They  are  hardly  possible  witli  those  who 
have  confirmed  tlieinselvcs  deeply  in  errors  of  religion; 
since  he  who  confirms  the  false  denies  the  true ;  while 
they  are  possible  with  those  who  have  not  confirmed 
themselves,  whatever  may  be  tlieir  religion.  Infants 
and  children  cannot  attain  to  true  liberty  and  ration- 
ality before  they  come  of  age,  since  with  man  the  inte- 
riors of  the  mind  are  opened  gradually.  Meanwhile 
these  faculties  are  like  seeds  in  unripe  fruit,  which  can- 
not sprout  in  the  soil. 

From  what  I  have  heard  iu  the  spiritual  world,  I 
have  become  fully  convinced  that  every  man  possesses 
liberty  and  rationalily  ;  and  that  every  one  can  attain 
to  true  liberty  and  rationality  if  he  shuns  evils  as  sins. 
But  the  mature  man  who  does  not  attain  to  them  in  the 
world,  can  never  do  so  after  death  ;  for  then  his  state 
of  life  remains  for  ever  such  as  it  had  been  in  the 


world.    (D.  P.,  n.  70-99.) 


F 


VI. 


THE  LAW  ACCORDING  TO  WHICH  THE  LORD  RE- 
MOVES EVILS  FROM  THE  INTERNAL  AND 
EXTERNAL  MAN. 

NY  one  may  see  from  reason  alone,  that  the 
Lord,  who  is  the  absolutely  Good  and  True, 
canuot  enter  into  man  unless  the  evil  and 
false  in  him  are  removed ;  for  evil  is  the 
opposite  of  the  good,  and  falsity  is  the  opposite  of  the 
true.  And  two  opposites  can  never  intermingle;  but 
when  one  approaches  the  other  there  is  a  conflict,  which 
lasts  until  one  yields  the  place  to  the  other ;  and  that 
which  yields  departs,  and  the  other  takes  its  place. 
Heaven  and  hell,  or  the  Lord  and  the  devil,  are  in  such 
opposition. 

Can  any  one  rationally  think  that  the  Lord  can  enter 
where  the  devil  reigns?  or  that  heaven  can  be  where 
hell  is?  Who  cannot,  from  the  rationality  given  to 
every  man  of  sound  mind,  see  that  for  the  Lord  to 
enter,  the  devil  must  be  ejected,  or  for  heaven  to  enter, 
hell  must  be  removed.  Evil  itself  is  hell,  as  good  itself 
is  heaven ;  or  what  is  the  same  thing,  evil  itself  is  the 
devil,  and  good  itself  is  the  Lord ;  and  the  man  in 
whom  evil  rules  is  a  hell  in  miniature,  while  he  in  whom 
good  rules  is  a  heaven  in  miniature.    This  being  the 

82 


WHO  ARE  IN  EVIL. 


83 


case,  how  can  heaven  enter  hell,  since  between  them  so 
great  a  gulf  is  fixed,  that  to  cross  fi-om  one  to  the  other 
is  impossible?  From  this  it  follows  that  hell  must  by 
all  means  be  removed  from  man,  in  order  that  the  Lord 
may  be  able  to  enter  with  heaven. 

But  many,  especially  those  who  have  confirmed  them- 
selves in  faith  separate  from  charity,  do  not  know  that 
they  are  in  hell  when  in  evil ;  nor  do  they  even  know 
what  evil  is ;  for  the  reason  that  they  do  not  give  it 
any  thought. —  For  they  who  do  not  reflect  upon  the 
evils  in  themselves  (that  is,  do  not  examine  themselves), 
and  afterwards  refrain  from  them,  cannot  but  be  igno- 
rant of  what  evil  is,  and  then  love  it  from  its  delight. 
For  he  who  is  ignorant  of  the  nature  of  evil,  loves  it ; 
and  he  who  pays  no  attention  to  it,  is  continually  in  it ; 
like  a  blind  man  he  does  not  see  it.  For  thought  sees 
the  good  and  evil,  as  the  eye  sees  the  beautiful  and  the 
ugly. 

He  is  in  evil,  whose  thought  and  will  are  in  it,  as 
also  he  who  believes  that  God  does  not  regard  evil,  and 
he  who  believes  that  it  is  forgiven  if  regarded ;  for  so 
they  think  themselves  free  from  evil.  If  they  abstain 
from  doing  evil,  it  is  not  because  evil  is  sin  against 
God,  but  from  fear  of  the  law  or  public  opinion.  But 
still  they  do  evil  in  spirit;  for  thought  and  will  belong 
to  the  spirit ;  wherefore  what  man  meditates  in  his 
spirit  in  the  world,  after  his  departure  from  the  world, 
when  he  becomes  a  spirit,  that  he  does.  In  the  spiritual 
world  to  which  every  man  goes  after  death,  it  is  not 


84 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


the  character  of  your  faith  into  which  inquiry  is  made, 
nor  of  your  doctrine,  but  of  your  life,  whether  it  had 
been  of  this  chai'acter  or  of  that ;  for  it  is  known  that 
such  as  a  man's  life  is,  such  is  his  faith,  nay,  more,  such 
is  his  doctrine.  For  life  forms  its  doctrine  and  faith 
for  itself 

From  these  statements  it  will  appear  that  it  is  a  law 
of  the  Divine  Providence  that  evils  should  be  removed 
by  man ;  for  without  their  removal  the  Lord  cannot  be 
united  to  man,  and  cannot  from  Himself  lead  him  to 
heaven.  But  as  it  is  unknown  that  man  ought  as  of 
himself  to  remove  evils  in  the  external  man,  and  that 
unless  he  does  this  as  of  himself  the  Lord  cannot  re- 
move the  evils  in  his  internal  man,  therefore  the  subject 
shall  be  presented  to  reason  in  its  own  light. — 

I. — Evepj  man  has  an  external  and  internal  of  thought. 
— That  every  man  of  mature  age  has  an  external  and 
an  internal  of  thought,  and  therefore  an  external  [and 
internal]  of  will  and  understanding ;  or  that  his  spirit 
has  an  external  and  an  internal,  which  are  the  same 
with  the  external  and  internal  man,  is  plain  to  any  one 
who  observes  the  thoughts  and  intentions  of  another  as 
exhibited  in  his  conversation  or  actions ;  and  his  owu 
also,  when  he  is  in  company,  and  when  alone.  For  one 
man  may  talk  with  another  in  a  friendly  manner  from 
external  thought,  and  yet  be  at  enmity  with  him  in  his 
internal  thought.  A  man  may,  from  external  thought 
and  its  affection  together,  talk  about  love  to  the  neigh- 
bor, and  love  to  God  ;  when  yet,  in  his  internal  thought 


INTERNAL  AND  EXTERNAL  THOUGHT. 


85 


he  may  care  nothing  for  the  neighbor  and  have  no  fear 
of  God.  He  may  also,  from  external  thought  and  its 
affection  together,  talk  about  the  justice  of  civil  laws, 
the  virtues  of  moral  life,  and  matters  of  doctrine  and 
spiritual  life ;  and  yet,  when  alone  by  himself,  from  in- 
ternal thought  and  its  affection,  he  may  speak  against 
civil  laws,  moral  virtues,  and  matters  of  doctrine  and 
spiritual  life.  Those  do  so  who  are  in  the  lusts  of  evil, 
and  yet  wish  to  appear  before  the  world  as  though  they 
were  not. —  That  flatterers  and  hypocrites  have  a  double 
thought,  is  known  ;  for  they  can  be  reserved  and  careful 
not  to  disclose  their  interior  thought ;  and  some  conceal 
it  deeper  and  deeper,  and,  as  it  were,  block  up  the  doors 
lest  it  should  appear. 

The  internal  of  thought  is  from  the  life's  love  and 
its  affections  and  their  perceptions  ;  the  external  of 
thought  is  from  the  contents  of  the  memory,  which 
serve  the  life's  love  for  confirmations,  and  as  means  to 
ends.  Man  from  infancy  to  early  manhood  is  in  the 
external  of  thought  originating  in  the  love  of  knowing, 
which  then  forms  its  internal ;  there  also  attaches  to 
him  something  of  lust  and  its  inclination  derived  from 
his  connate  and  hereditary  life's  love.  But  afterwardg, 
according  as  he  lives,  his  life's  love  changes ;  its  affec- 
tions and  their  perceptions  form  the  internal  of  his 
thought ;  and  from  [this]  life's  love  arises  the  love  of 
means  [subservient  to  it],  the  delight  of  which,  and  the 
knowledge  thereby  called  forth  from  the  memory,  con- 
stitute the  external  of  his  thought. 


86 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


II.  —  The  external  of  man's  thought  is  in  itself  of  the 
same  character  as  the  internal.  That  man  is  like  his 
life's  love  from  head  to  foot  has  been  shown  before. 
Here,  therefore,  something  shall  be  said  of  his  life's 
love.  Loves  are  manifold ;  but  two  of  them  are  like 
lords  and  kings  —  celestial  love  and  infernal  love. 
Celestial  love  is  love  to  the  Lord  and  the  neighbor; 
and  infernal  love  is  the  love  of  self  and  the  world. 
The  latter  and  the  former  ai-e  opposed  to  each  other  as 
heaven  is  to  hell.  For  they  who  are  in  the  love  of  self 
and  the  world  have  no  good-will  for  any  but  themselves ; 
but  they  who  are  in  love  to  the  Lord  and  the  neighbor, 
have  good-will  for  all.  These  two  loves  are  the  loves 
of  man's  life,  but  with  much  variety.  Celestial  love  is 
the  life's  love  of  those  whom  the  Lord  leads ;  and  in- 
fernal love  is  the  life's  love  of  those  whom  the  devil 
leads. 

But  no  one's  life's  love  can  exist  without  derivations, 
which  are  called  affections ;  the  derivations  of  infernal 
love  are  affections  for  the  evil  and  false  —  properly, 
lusts ;  and  the  derivations  of  celestial  love  are  affec- 
tions for  the  good  and  true  —  properly,  attachments. 
There  are  as  many  affections  (properly  lusts)  of  infernal 
love  as  there  are  evils  ;  and  as  many  affections  (properly 
attachments)  of  celestial  love  as  there  are  different  kinds 
of  good.  Love  dwells  in  its  affections  like  a  lord  in  his 
province,  or  a  king  in  his  kingdom,  —  its  province  and 
kingdom  being  over  the  things  of  the  mind,  that  is,  of 
man's  will  and  understanding,  and  through  these  over 


END,  CA  USE  AND  EFFECT. 


87 


the  body.  Man's  life's  love,  by  its  affections  and  their 
perceptions,  and  by  its  delights  and  their  thoughts,  rule 
the  whole  man  —  the  internal  of  his  mind  by  affections 
and  their  perceptions,  and  the  external  by  the  delights 
of  affections  and  their  thoughts. 

The  union  of  all  the  constituents  of  the  will  and  un- 
derstanding, or  of  man's  mind,  with  his  life's  love,  may 
be  seen  rationally  thus :  There  are  everywhere  three 
things  together,  which  constitute  one.  These  are  called 
end,  cause  and  effect.  The  life's  love  is  here  the  end ; 
the  affections  with  their  perceptions  are  the  cause ;  and 
the  delights  of  the  affections  with  their  thoughts  are 
the  effect.  For  as  the  end  through  the  cause  enters 
into  the  effect,  so  also  does  love  through  its  affections 
enter  into  its  delights,  and  through  its  perceptions  into 
its  thoughts.  The  effects  themselves  are  in  the  mind's 
delights  and  their  thoughts,  whenever  the  delights  be- 
long to  the  will,  and  the  thoughts  to  its  understanding ; 
thus  whenever  their  harmony  is  perfect.  The  effects 
then  belong  to  the  spirit ;  and  if  they  do  not  come 
forth  into  bodily  action,  still  they  exist  as  if  in  action 
when  there  is  harmony.  Moreover,  they  then  exist 
simultaneously  in  the  body,  and  dwell  there  with  its 
life's  love,  and  aspire  to  action,  which  takes  place  when 
nothing  hinders.  Such  are  the  lusts  of  evil,  and  the 
evils  themselves,  in  those  who  in  spirit  regard  evils  as 
allowable. 

Now  as  the  end  unites  with  the  cause,  and  through 
the  cause  with  the  effect,  so  does  the  life's  love  with 


88 


THE  SWEDENBORQ  LIBRARY. 


internal  thought,  and  through  this  with  its  external. 
It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  man's  external  thought  is  of 
the  same  character  as  his  internal  thought,  inasmuch 
as  the  end  imparts  itself  wholly  to  the  cause,  and  through 
the  cause  to  the  efiect ;  for  there  is  in  the  effect  nothing 
essential,  except  what  is  in  the  cause,  and  through  the 
cause  in  the  end. — 

It  sometimes  seems  as  if  the  external  of  man's 
thought  were  not  in  itself  the  same  as  the  internal ; 
but  this  is  because  the  life's  love,  with  its  surrounding 
internals,  establishes  below  it  a  substitute,  which  is 
called  the  love  of  means,  and  enjoins  upon  it  to  be 
careful  and  watch  that  nothing  of  its  lusts  shall  appear. 
Therefore  this  substitute,  from  the  cunning  of  its  chief, 
who  is  the  life's  love,  talks  and  acts  according  to  the 
civil  interests  of  the  kingdom,  according  to  the  moral 
interests  of  reason,  and  according  to  the  spiritual  in- 
terests of  the  church  ;  and  some  do  this  so  astutely  and 
ingeniously  that  no  one  sees  but  that  they  are  what  their 
conversation  and  actions  indicate ;  and  finally  by  con- 
cealment they  hardly  know  otherwise  themselves.  Such 
is  the  character  of  all  hypocrites,  and  of  priests  who 
at  heart  care  nothing  for  the  neighbor  and  do  not  fear 
God,  and  yet  preach  al)out  the  love  of  the  neighbor 
and  of  God;  of  judges  also  who  judge  according  to 
bribes  and  friendship,  while  they  pretend  to  be  zealous 
for  justice,  and  from  reason  talk  of  judgment ;  and  of 
merchants  who  are  insincere  and  fraudulent  at  heart, 
while  they  act  sincerely  for  the  sake  of  gain  ;  and  of 


SINCEBITY  AND  HYPOCRISY. 


89 


adulterers,  when,  from  the  rationality  belonging  to  all 
men,  they  talk  of"  the  chastity  of  marriage ;  and  so  on. 
But  if  these  same  men  strip  the  love  of  means  —  the 
substitute  of  their  life's  love  —  of  its  garments  of  purple 
and  fine  linen  with  which  they  have  invested  it,  and 
clothe  it  in  its  domestic  garb,  then  they  think,  and 
sometimes  fro^  their  thought,  they  talk  with  their  dearest 
friends  whose  life's  love  is  similar,  in  a  precisely  op- 
posite manner.  It  may  be  imagined  that  when  they 
talked  so  justly,  sincerely  and  piously,  from  the  love 
of  means,  the  character  of  their  internal  thought  was 
not  within  their  external  thought.  Yet  it  was.  Hy- 
pocrisy is  in  them ;  the  love  of  self  and  the  world  is 
in  them,  the  cunning  of  which  is  to  secure  a  reputation, 
for  the  sake  of  honor  or  wealth,  even  in  outward  ap- 
pearance. This  character  of  their  internal  thought  is 
in  the  external  wheu  they  so  speak  and  act. 

But  with  those  who  are  in  celestial  love,  internal  and 
external  thought,  or  the  internal  and  external  man 
make  one  when  they  speak ;  nor  do  they  know  of  any 
distinction  between  them.  Their  life's  love,  with  its 
affections  for  the  good  and  their  perceptions  of  truth, 
fs  like  the  soul  of  their  thoughts,  and  their  conversation 
and  action  therefrom.  If  they  are  priests,  they  preach 
from  love  to  the  neighbor  and  to  the  Lord  ;  if  judges, 
they  judge  from  justice;  if  merchants,  they  act  from 
true  sincerity  ;  if  married,  they  love  their  wives  from 
chastity  itself ;  and  so  on.  Their  life's  love  has  also  a 
love  of  means  as  a  substitute,  which  it  teaches  and  leads 
8* 


90 


THE  SWEDENDORO  LIBRARY. 


to  act  prudently,  and  clothes  with  the  garment  of  zeal 
for  truth  of  doctrine,  together  with  good  of  life. 

III. — The  internal  cannot  be  'purified  Jrom  the  lusts  of 
evil  so  long  as  the  evils  in  the  external  man  are  not  re- 
moved, because  these  obstruct.  This  follows  from  the 
])receding  statements,  that  man's  external  thought  is  in 
itself  of  the  same  character  as  his  internal  thought. — 
Now  as  lusts  together  with  subtleties  constitute  the  in- 
ternal thought  of  the  wicked,  and  the  delights  of  lust 
together  with  their  machinations  constitute  their  exter- 
nal thought,  and  as  the  latter  and  the  former  are  united 
as  one,  it  follows  that  the  internal  cannot  be  purified  of 
lusts,  so  long  as  the  evils  in  the  external  man  are  not 
removed.  It  is  man's  internal  will  which  is  in  lusts, 
and  his  internal  understanding  which  is  full  of  subtle- 
ties ;  while  it  is  the  external  will  which  is  in  the  de- 
lights of  lust,  and  the  external  understanding  which  is 
filled  with  machinations  originating  in  subtlety.  Any 
one  can  see  that  lust  and  its  delights  make  one,  and 
that  subtlety  and  machination  make  one ;  also  that  the 
four  are  connected  in  one  series,  and  together  form,  as 
it  were,  one  bundle.  Lusts  by  their  delights  produce 
evils  ;  but  when  evils  are  deemed  allowable,  which  takes 
place  by  the  consent  of  both  will  and  understanding, 
then  the  delights  and  evils  are  one.  That  consent  is 
the  deed,  is  known ;  this  also  is  what  the  Lord  says  in 
Matt.  V.  28. 

From  these  statements  it  is  now  evident  that,  in  order 
for  man  to  be  purified  from  the  lusts  of  evil,  evils  must 


HOW  EVILS  ACQUIRE  STRENG TH.  9 1 


by  all  means  be  removed  from  the  external  man ;  for 
before  this  is  done,  no  outlet  is  given  to  lusts ;  and  if 
no  outlet  is  given  them,  they  remain  within  and  exhale 
their  delights,  and  so  urge  man  to  consent,  that  is  to 
their  commission. —  It  is  plain  that  if  the  evils  in  the 
external  man  are  not  removed,  lusts  with  their  delights 
grow  stronger  and  more  abundant.  The  more  a  thief 
steals  the  more  he  longs  to  steal,  until  he  cannot  re- 
frain. So  with  a  dishonest  man,  as  he  practises  fraud ; 
with  hatred  and  revenge ;  with  luxury,  intemperance, 
fornication  and  blasphemy,  it  is  the  same.  That  the 
love  of  rule  originating  in  self-love  grows*  stronger  as 
the  rein  is  given  to  it,  is  known ;  likewise  the  love  of 
possession  originating  in  love  of  the  world.  It  seems 
as  if  they  had  neither  limit  nor  end.  From  which  it  is 
plain,  that  the  lusts  of  evil  abound  so  far  as  the  evils 
in  the  external  man  are  not  removed ;  and  again,  that 
lust  grows  stronger  in  the  degree  that  the  rein  is  given 
to  evils. 

So  far  as  m^in  confirms  himself  in  the  belief  that 
evils  are  allowable,  he  enlarges  the  court  of  the  ruling 
love,  which  is  his  life's  love.  Lusts  constitute  its 
court ;  for  they  are  like  its  ministers  and  attendants, 
through  whom  it  governs  the  exteriors  which  constitute 
its  kingdom.  But  as  the  king  is,  such  are  his  ministers 
and  attendants,  and  such  is  the  kingdom.  If  the  king 
is  a  devil,  his  ministers  and  attendants  are  follies,  and 
the  people  of  his  kingdom  are  all  the  forms  of  the  false, 
which  his  ministers  whom  the  people  call  wise  although 


92 


TUE  SWEDENIiOIlG  LIBRARY. 


they  are  fools,  cause  to  appear  true  by  reasonings  from 
fallacies  and  by  illusions,  and  to  be  acknowledged  as 
true.  Can  such  a  state  in  man  be  changed  except  by 
the  removal  of  the  evils  in  the  external  man,  and  thus 
of  the  lusts  also  wliich  adhere  to  the  evils?  Otherwise 
there  is  no  outlet  for  lusts,  for  they  are  shut  in  like  a 
besieged  city  or  a  closed  ulcer. 

IV. — Evils  in  the  external  man  cannot  be  removed  by 
the  Lord,  except  through  man's  instrumentality.  In  all 
Christian  churches  this  doctrine  is  received :  That  man, 
before  he  approaches  the  holy  communion,  is  to  examine 
himself,  see  and  acknowledge  his  sins,  and  do  the  work 
of  repentance  by  abstaining  from  them  and  renouncing 
them,  because  they  are  from  the  devil ;  otherwise  his 
sins  are  not  forgiven,  and  he  is  damned.  The  English, 
although  adhering  to  the  doctrine  of  faith  alone,  yet  in 
their  exhortation  at  the  holy  communion,  openly  teach 
[the  duty  of]  examination,  acknowledgment,  confession 
of  sins,  repentance,  and  renewal  of  life  ;  and  those  who 
fail  to  do  this,  they  threaten  with  the  declaration  that 
the  devil  will  enter  into  them  as  he  did  into  Judas,  and 
will  fill  them  with  all  iniquity,  and  destroy  both  body 
and  soul.  The  Germans,  Swedes,  and  Danes,  who  also 
adhere  to  the  doctrine  of  faith  alone,  in  their  exhorta- 
tion at  the  holy  communion  make  similar  statements  ; 
threatening,  moreover,  that  otherwise  they  will  be  sub- 
ject to  the  torments  of  hell  and  to  eternal  damnation, 
for  mingling  the  lioly  and  the  profane. 

It  is  plain  from  this,  that  it  is  the  common  religion  of 


now  EVILS  ARE  REMOVED. 


93 


all  the  cburclies  ia  the  Christian  world,  that  man  should 
examine  himself ;  should  see  and  acknowledge  his  sins, 
and  afterwards  abstain  from  them ;  and  that  otherwise 
there  is  no  salvation,  but  damnation.  Moreover,  this  is 
the  divine  truth  itself,  as  is  evident  from  passages  in 
the  Word  where  man  is  commanded  to  repent,  as  in  the 
following:  "Bring  forth  therefore  fruits  worthy  of  re- 
peiitance.  .  .  And  now  also  the  axe  is  laid  unto  the  root 
of  the  trees  ;  every  tree  therefore  which  bringeth  not 
forth  good  fruit  is  hewn  down,  and  cast  into  the  fire." 
Luke  iii.  8,  9 ;  "  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise 
perish."  Luke  xiii.  3,  5 ;  "  Jesus  came  into  Galilee, 
preaching  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and 
saying,  .  .  Repent  ye,  and  believe  the  gospel."  Mark  i. 
14,  15  ;  also  Mark  i.  4  ;  vi.  12  ;  Luke  iii.  3  ;  xxiv.  47. — 
Evils  in  the  external  man  cannot  be  removed  unless 
through  the  man's  instrumentality,  because  it  is  of  the 
Lord's  Divine  Providence  that  whatever  man  hears  and 
sees,  whatever  there  is  in  his  thought,  will,  speech  and 
actions,  seems  to  him  to  be  wholly  his  own.  Without 
this  appearance  there  would  be  in  man  no  reception  of 
the  divine  truth,  no  determination  towards  doing  good, 
no  appropriation  of  love  and  wisdom,  or  of  charity  and 
faith,  and  therefore  no  union  with  the  Lord  ;  conse- 
quently no  reformation  and  regeneration,  and  thereby 
salvation.  That  without  this  appearance  repentance  for 
sin  is  impossible,  and  even  faith,  is  evident ;  as  also  that 
man  without  this  appearance  would  not  be  man,  but 
devoid  of  rational  life  like  an  animal. — 


94 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


There  are  many  who  do  not  know  that  they  are  in 
evils,  because  they  do  not  externally  commit  them ;  for 
they  fear  the  civil  laws,  and  the  loss  of  reputation,  and 
so  from  custom  acquire  the  habit  of  shunning  evils  as 
injurious  to  their  honor  or  wealth.  But  if  they  do  not 
shun  evils  from  religious  principle,  because  they  are 
sins  and  are  contrary  to  God,  the  lusts  of  evil  with 
their  delights  remain  in  them,  like  impure  waters 
dammed  up  or  stagnated.  Let  them  examine  their 
thoughts  and  intentions,  and  they  will  find  the  evils 
[there],  provided  they  know  what  sin  is. 

This  is  the  state  of  many  who  have  confirmed  them- 
selves in  faith  separate  from  charity;  who,  because  they 
believe  the  law  does  not  condemn  them,  pay  no  atten- 
tion to  sin  ;  and  some  doubt  its  existence,  or  believe 
that  if  it  does  exist,  it  is  not  sin  in  God's  sight,  because 
it  has  been  pardoned.  This  is  also  the  character  of 
natural  moralists,  who  believe  that  moral  and  civil  life 
with  its  prudence  accomplishes  everything,  and  the  Di- 
vine Providence  nothing ;  also  of  those  who  studiously 
seek  after  a  reputation  and  name  for  honesty  and  sincer- 
ity for  the  sake  of  honor  or  wealth.  But  they  who  are 
of  this  character,  and  have  also  despised  religion,  after 
death  become  spirits  of  lust,  who  seem  to  themselves 
like  true  men,  but  at  a  distance  seem  to  others  like 
priajii.  They  see  in  the  dark,  and  are  blind  in  the 
light,  like  owls. 

The  Lord  purifies  man  from  the  lusts  of  evil  when 
man  as  of  himself  removes  evils,  [in  the  external  man] 


MAX'S  INTERIORS,  UNKNOWN. 


95 


because  He  cannot  do  so  before ;  for  the  evils  in  the  ex- 
ternal man,  and  the  lusts  of  evil  in  the  internal,  are 
connected  like  root  and  trunk.  Therefore  unless  evils 
are  removed  there  is  no  opening ;  for  they  obstruct  and 
close  the  door,  which  the  Lord  cannot  open  unless  by 
means  of  man,  as  shown  just  above.  Thus  when  man 
as  of  himself  opens  the  door,  the  Lord  together  with 
him  extirpates  lusts. — That  the  Lord  continually  urges 
man  to  open  the  door  to  Him,  is  plain  from  his  words 
in  Rev.  iii.  20 :  "  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door,  and  knock : 
if  any  man  hear  my  voice,  and  open  the  door,  I  will 
come  in  to  him  and  will  sup  with  him  and  he  with  me." 

Man  knows  nothing  at  all  of  the  state  of  his  interior 
mind  or  of  his  internal  man  ;  nevertheless  there  are  in 
it  infinite  things,  not  one  of  which  comes  to  his  knowl- 
edge. For  the  internal  of  man's  thought,  or  the  inter- 
nal man,  is  the  spirit  itself,  and  the  contents  of  it  are  as 
innumerable  as  those  of  the  body ;  indeed  still  more  in- 
numerable, for  man's  spirit  is  in  its  own  form  a  man, 
and  corresponds  to  man  in  his  body  in  all  particulars. 
Now  as  man  knows  nothing,  by  any  sensation,  of  how 
his  mind  or  soul  operates  conjointly  [with],  and  partic- 
ularly upon,  all  parts  of  the  body,  neither  does  he  know 
how  the  Lord  operates  upon  all  parts  of  the  mind  or 
soul,  that  is,  upon  all  the  faculties  of  his  spirit.  The 
operation  is  continual ;  man  has  no  part  in  it ;  yet  the 
Lord  cannot  purify  man  from  any  lust  of  evil  resident 
in  his  spirit  or  internal  man,  so  long  as  man  keeps  the 
external  closed. — 


96 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIIiltARY. 


Many  suppose  that  a  mere  belief  in  what  the  church 
teaclies,  purifies  man  from  evils  ;  some,  that  doing  good 
purifies;  some,  that  knowing,  talking  about  and  teach- 
ing the  things  that  belong  to  the  church  does  so ;  some, 
that  reading  the  Word  and  pious  books  purifies  ;  others, 
that  frequenting  churches,  listening  to  preaching,  and 
especially  partaking  of  the  Holy  Supper,  purify ;  some, 
that  renouncing  the  world  and  studying  piety;  and 
others,  that  to  confess  themselves  guilty  of  all  sins, 
purifies  them ;  and  so  on.  Yet  all  of  these  do  not 
purify  man  in  the  least,  unless  he  examines  himself, 
sees  his  sins,  acknowledges  them,  condemns  himself  for 
them,  and  repents  by  abstaining  from  them  ;  and  all 
this  as  of  himself,  yet  with  the  heart's  acknowledgment 
that  he  does  it  from  the  Lord.  Before  this  is  done,  the 
actions  above  mentioned  are  of  uo  service ;  for  they  are 
either  meritorious  or  hypocritical. — 

But  it  must  be  well  understood,  that  a  man  about  to 
repent  ought  to  look  to  the  Lord  alone.  If  he  looks 
only  to  God  the  Father,  he  cannot  be  purified ;  nor  if 
he  looks  to  the  Father  for  sake  of  the  Son ;  nor  if  to 
the  Son  as  a  mere  man.  For  there  is  one  God,  and  the 
Lord  is  He, —  His  Divinity  and  Humanity  being  one 
Person,  as  shown  in  the  New  Church  Doctrine  of  the 
Lord. — 

V. — It  is  the  constant  effort  of  the  Lord's  Divine  Prov- 
idence to  unite  man  to  Himself,  and  Himself  to  man,  so 
that  He  may  be  able  to  give  man  the  happiness  of  eternal 
life,  which  is  possible  only  so  far  as  evils  with  their  lusts 


U.\WX  Wiril  GOD  IS  SALVATIOy. 


97 


are  removed. — "Who  does  not  see  that  union  with  God  is 
life  eternal  and  salvation  ?  All  see  it,  who  believe  that 
men  are  by  creation  images  and  likenesses  of  God  (Gen. 
i.  26,  27),  and  who  know  what  an  image  and  likeness 
of  God  is.  Who  that  is  possessed  of  sound  reason, 
when  he  thinks  from  his  own  rationality,  and  is  willing 
to  think  from  his  own  liberty,  can  believe  that  there  are 
three  Gods  equal  in  essence,  and  that  the  Divine  Being 
or  the  Divine  Essence  cau  be  divided '?  The  existence 
of  a  Trine  in  one  God  is  conceivable  and  comprehen- 
sible, as  in  angel  and  man  the  existence  of  soul,  body, 
and  the  outgoing  of  life  from  them.  And  as  this  trine 
in  one  exists  only  in  the  Lord,  it  follows  that  there 
must  be  union  with  Him.  Exercise  your  rationality, 
together  with  your  liberty  of  thinking,  and  you  will  see 
this  truth  in  its  own  light.  But  first  admit  the  existence 
of  God,  the  existence  of  heaven  and  the  fact  of  eternal 
life. 

Now  as  God  is  one,  while  man  by  creation  is  made 
an  image  and  likeness  of  Him  ;  and  as  by  infernal  love 
and  its  lusts  and  their  delights  man  has  acquired  the 
love  of  all  evils,  and  has  thereby  destroyed  in  him- 
self the  image  and  likeness  of  God,  it  follows  that  it  is 
the  continual  effort  of  the  Lord's  Divine  Providence  to 
unite  man  to  Himself  and  Himself  to  man,  and  thus  to 
make  man  his  image.  That  the  object  of  this  is  to  en- 
able the  Lord  to  give  to  man  the  happiness  of  eternal 
life  also  follows,  for  such  is  the  nature  of  divine  love. 
But  He  cannot  give  man  this  happiness,  nor  make  him 
9  G 


98 


THE  SWEDESBORG  LIBRAHY. 


an  image  of  Himself,  unless  man  as  of  himself  removes 
sins  in  the  external  man,  because  the  Lord  is  not  only 
divine  love,  but  also  divine  wisdom ;  and  the  divine 
love  does  nothing,  unless  from  its  own  divine  wisdom 
and  according  to  it. — 

Tlie  Lord  acts  from  inmosts  and  from  idtimates  simid- 
iancously,  because  thus  only  are  the  whole  and  the  parts 
held  in  connection  ;  for  intermediates  have  a  successive 
dependence  from  inmosts  even  to  ultimates,  and  in  ulti- 
mates  they  [all]  exist  simultaneously.  In  the  ultimates 
there  is  a  simultaneous  existence  of  all  things  from  the 
very  first.  It  is  for  this  reason  also  that  the  Lord  from 
eternity,  or  Jehovah,  came  into  the  world,  and  there 
assumed  and  clotlied  Himself  with  a  Humanity  in  ulti- 
mates, in  order  that  He  might  be  from  primaries,  and 
at  the  same  time  in  ultimates;  and  so  from  primaries 
through  ultimates  govern  the  entire  world,  and  thus 
save  the  man  whom,  according  to  the  laws  of  his  Di- 
vine Providence  (which  again  are  the  laws  of  his  Di- 
vine Wisdom)  He  can  save.  Thus  no  mortal  could 
have  been  saved,  unless  the  Lord  had  come  into  the 
world.  Therefore  it  is  tiiat  He  is  called  the  First  and 
tlie  Last. 

These  angelic  arcana  are  premised  to  make  it  com- 
prehensible how  the  Lord's  Diviue  Providence  operates 
to  unite  man  to  Himself  and  Himself  to  man.  This 
takes  place  in  no  particular  part  of  man  separately, 
unless  in  all  parts  of  him  simultaneously ;  and  it  is 
efl'ectcd  from  man's  inmosts  and  ultimates  simulta- 


THE  LORD  ACTS  FROM  IXilOSTS. 


99 


neously.  Man's  inmost  is  his  life's  love,  and  the  ulti- 
mates  are  the  contents  of  his  external  thought ;  inter- 
mediates are  what  belong  to  his  internal  thought ;  the 
character  of  them  in  a  wicked  man  has  been  previously 
shown.  From  these  remarks  it  is  again  plain  that  the 
Lord  cannot  act  from  inmosts  and  ultiniates  simulta- 
neously, unless  together  with  man ;  for  man  is  with  the 
Lord  in  ultimates.  Therefore  as  man  acts  in  ultimates, 
which  are  at  his  disposal  because  subject  to  his  liberty, 
so  does  the  Lord  act  from  inmosts,  and  upon  what  suc- 
ceeds them  even  to  ultimates.  The  things  contained  in 
man's  inmosts,  and  in  what  succeeds  them  down  to 
ultimates,  are  wholly  unknown  to  man  ;  and  therefore 
man  is  wholly  ignorant  of  how  the  Lord  there  operates, 
and  what  He  does ;  but  as  those  things  are  connected 
with  ultimates,  as  one  with  them,  therefore  it  is  un- 
necessary for  man  to  know  anything  more  than  that  lie 
should  shun  evils  as  sins,  and  look  to  the  Lord.  Thus, 
and  in  no  other  way,  can  his  life's  love  which  is  from 
birth  infernal,  be  removed  by  the  Lord,  and  a  heavenly 
life's  love  be  implanted  in  its  place. 

When  a  heavenly  life's  love  has  been  implanted  in 
man  by  the  Lord  in  place  of  an  infernal  life's  love, 
then  in  the  place  of  lusts  for  the  evil  and  false,  are  im- 
planted affections  for  the  good  and  true ;  and  in  the 
place  of  the  delights  of  lusts  for  the  evil  and  the  false, 
are  implanted  the  delights  of  affections  for  the  good  ; 
and  in  place  of  the  evils  of  infernal  love,  are  implanttd 
the  good  of  heavenly  love.    Then  instead  of  cunning  is 


100 


THE  SWEDENDORG  LIBRARY. 


implanted  prudence,  and  instead  of  wicked  tlionghta 
are  implanted  wise  thoughts.  Thus  is  man  born  again, 
and  becomes  a  new  creature. 

Who  does  not  know  from  the  Word  that  a  man's  lot 
in  the  life  after  death  is  according  to  his  deeds?  Open 
the  Word,  read  it,  and  you  will  see  this  clearly ;  but 
then  remove  your  thoughts  from  faith,  and  justification 
by  it  alone.  That  the  Lord  teaches  this  everywhere 
in  his  Word,  take  these  few  examples  as  testimony : 
"  Every  tree  that  bringeih  not  forth  good  fruit  is  hewn 
down,  and  cast  into  the  fire.  Wherefore  by  their  fruits 
ye  shall  know  them."  Matt.  vii.  19,  20.  "Many  will 
say  to  me  in  that  day.  Lord,  Lord,  have  we  not  proph- 
esied in  thy  name?  .  .  and  in  thy  name  done  many 
wonderful  works?  And  then  will  I  profess  unto  them, 
I  never  knew  you  :  depart  from  me,  ye  that  work  in- 
iquity." Matt.  vii.  22,  23.  "  Therefore  whosoever  hear- 
eth  these  sayings  of  mine,  and  doeth  them,  I  will  liken 
him  unto  a  wise  man,  which  built  his  house  upon  a 
rock :  .  .  and  evei  y  one  that  lieareth  these  sayings  of 
mine  and  doclh  l/icm  not,  shall  be  likened  unto  a  foolish 
man,  which  built  his  house  upon  the  sand."  Matt.  vii. 
24,  26  ;  Luke  vi.  4G-49.  "For  the  Son  of  man  shall 
come  in  the  glory  of  his  Father,  .  .  and  then  he  shall 
reward  every  man  according  to  his  works."  "And  [Jesus] 
said  unto  them,  My  mother  and  my  brethren  are  these 
which  hear  the  Word  of  God,  and  do  it."  Luke  viii.  21. 
—  "  He  that  hath  my  commandments  and  keepeth  them, 
he  it  is  that  lovcth  me,  .  .  and  I  will  love  him;.  .  . 


TIV/O  REALLY  LOVE  THE  LORD. 


101 


and  my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will  come  unto 
him,  and  make  our  abode  with  him."  John  xiv.  21,  23. 
(See  also  15,  24.)  "  Ye  are  my  friends,  if  ye  do  what- 
soever I  command  you."  —  Also  John  v.  29 ;  ix.  31  ; 

xiii.  17  ;  xv.  14,  16  ;  Luke  xiii.  25-27  ;  Rev.  ii.  1,  2,  4, 
5,  8,  9,  12,  13,  16,  18,  19 ;  iii.  1,  2,  3,  7,  8,  14,  15,  19 ; 

xiv.  13 ;  XX.  12,  13  ;  xxii.  12;  Jer.  vii.  2,  3,  4,  9,  10, 
11.  (D.  P.,  n.  100-128.) 

9* 


VIL 

IT  IS  A  LAW  OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  THAT 
MAN'S  THOUGHT  AND  WILL  IN  MATTERS  OF 
RELIGION,  SHOULD  NOT  BE  COMPELLED  BY 
EXTERNAL  MEANS 

VERY  one  knows  that  no  man's  thought  can 
be  compelled  to  act  against  his  will,  nor  his 
will  against  his  thought :  nor  can  he  be  forced 
to  believe  what  he  does  not  believe,  and  by  no 
means  to  believe  anything  against  his  will ;  nor  to  love 
what  he  does  not  love,  and  by  no  means  to  love  against 
his  will.  —  He  may  be  compelled  to  say  that  he  thinks 
thus  and  so,  and  that  his  will  favors  this  or  that;  that 
he  believes  in  it  and  loves  it ;  yet  if  it  is  not  or  does  not 
become  a  matter  of  his  affection,  and  consequently  of 
his  reason,  he  does  not  think  so  ;  his  will  does  not  favor 
it ;  he  does  not  believe  and  love  it.  He  may  even  be 
compelled  to  speak  in  favor  of  religion,  and  to  act  ac- 
cordingly ;  but  he  cannot  be  compelled  to  think  in  favor 
of  it,  with  any  faith  in  it,  nor  to  favor  it  in  will  with 
any  love  for  it.  Moreover,  in  kingdoms,  where  justice 
and  judgment  are  guarded,  any  one  may  be  compelled 
to  say  nothing  against  religion,  and  to  do  nothing 
against  it ;  yet  no  one  can  be  compelled  in  thought  and 
will  to  favor  it    For  in  every  one's  liberty  is  the  power 

102 


MIHACLES  DO  XOT  REI-Oinf. 


103 


of  thought  and  volition  in  favor  of  hell,  as  well  as  in 
I'avor  of  heaven.  But  reason  teaches  the  character  of 
each  state,  and  the  lot  which  awaits  it;  and  from  reason 
the  will  has  its  choice  to  take  either.  From  this  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  external  cannot  compel  the  internal. 
Nevertheless  this  is  sometimes  done  ;  but  that  it  is  de- 
structive will  be  demonstrated  as  follows:  — 

I.  —  Xo  one  is  reformed  bij  miracles  and  si(/ns,  because 
they  are  compulsory. —  It  cannot  be  denied  but  that  mir- 
acles induce  faith,  and  powerfully  persuade  that  what 
he  who  performs  the  mii-acles  says  and  teaches,  is  true. 
And  at  first  this  state  so  occupies  a  man's  external 
thought,  as,  in  a  manner,  to  bind  and  fascinate  it. .  But 
he  is  thereby  deprived  of  his  two  faculties  called  ration- 
ality and  liberty,  which  give  him  the  power  to  act  from 
freedom  according  to  reason ;  and  then  the  Lord  cannot 
flow  in  through  his  internal  into  his  external  thought, 
only  so  far  as  to  leave  him  to  confirm  by  his  rationality 
that  which  by  a  miracle  has  been  made  a  matter  of  his 
faith.  The  nature  of  man's  thought  is  such,  that  from 
his  internal  thought  he  sees  a  subject  in  his  external 
thought  as  iu  a  kind  of  mirror;  for  a  man  can  see  liis 
own  thought,  which  would  not  be  possible  unless  from 
a  more  interior  thought.  And  when  he  sees  the  subject 
as  in  a  mirror,  he  can  also  turn  it  this  way  or  that,  and 
shape  it  until  it  appears  to  him  beautiful.  And  if  the 
subject  is  truth,  it  may  be  compared  to  a  beautiful  and 
living  virgin  or  youth.  But  if  a  man  cannot  turn  the 
subject  this  way  or  that,  and  shape  it,  but  only  believe 


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iu  it  under  the  persuasion  of  a  miracle,  theu,  if  it  is 
truth,  it  may  be  compared  to  a  virgin  or  youth  carved 
in  wood  or  stone  in  which  there  is  no  life ;  it  may  also 
be  compared  to  an  object  which  is  constantly  before 
the  eye  —  itself  alone  visible,  and  hiding  all  that  is  at 
either  side  or  behind  it.  —  Such  blindness  is  induced 
upon  the  human  mind  by  miracles.  It  is  the  same  with 
everything  confirmed,  which  is  not  first  looked  into  with 
some  rationality. 

From  this  it  may  be  seen  that  faith  induced  by  mir- 
acles is  not  faith,  but  persuasion ;  for  there  is  nothing 
rational  in  it,  still  less  anything  spiritual ;  it  is  only 
an  external  without  an  internal.  It  is  the  same  with 
everything  which  man  does  from  that  persuasive  faith 
whether  he  acknowledges  God,  worsliips  Him  at  home 
or  in  churches,  or  does  good.  When  only  miracles  lead 
liira  to  the  acknowledgment  of  God,  to  worship  and 
piety,  he  acts  from  the  natural  man,  not  from  the  spir- 
itual. For  a  miracle  induces  faith  by  an  external,  not 
by  an  internal  way  —  thus  from  the  world,  and  not 
fi-om  heaven  ;  and  the  Lord  enters  into  man  by  the  in- 
ternal way  only,  which  is  by  the  Word  and  doctrine 
and  preaching  from  it.  And  because  miracles  close 
this  way,  at  this  day  there  are  no  miracles. 

That  such  is  the  nature  of  miracles  is  very  evident 
from  the  miracles  wrought  before  the  Jewish  people. 
They,  although  they  had  seen  so  many  miracles  in  the 
land  of  Egypt,  and  afterwards  at  the  Red  Sea,  and 
others  in  the  desert,  and  especially  at  Mount  Sinai 


THE  GOOD  THINK  FROM  THE  LORD.  105 


\\  lieu  the  law  was  promulgated,  nevertheless  within  one 
month,  wliile  Moses  tarried  upon  that  mountain,  they 
made  themselves  a  golden  calf,  and  acknowledged  it  as 
the  Lord  who  led  them  forth  from  the  land  of  Egypt. 
(Ex.  xxxii.  4,  5,  6.)  Then  again,  from  the  miracles 
afterwards  wrought  in  the  land  of  Canaan ;  and  never- 
theless they  as  often  departed  from  the  worship  com- 
manded them.  It  is  equally  evident  from  the  miracles 
which  the  Lord  wrought  before  them  when  He  was  in 
the  world  ;  and  yet  they  crucified  Him.  Miracles  were 
j^erformed  among  them  because  the  Jews  were  altogether 
external  men,  and  were  introduced  into  the  land  of  Ca- 
naan in  order  merely  to  represent  a  church  and  its  in- 
ternals by  the  externals  of  worship  (and  a  bad  man 
may  represent  anything  just  as  well  as  a  good  one);  for 
externals  are  rituals,  all  of  which  among  them  signified 
things  spiritual  and  celestial. — 

But  the  effect  of  miracles  upon  the  evil  and  upon  the 
good  is  different.  The  good  do  not  desire  miracles,  but 
they  believe  in  those  recorded  in  the  Word  ;  and  if  they 
hear  something  about  miracles,  they  regard  it  only  as 
an  argument  of  no  great  weight,  which  confirms  their 
faith  ;  for  they  think  from  the  Word,  that  is  from  the 
Lord,  and  not  from  miracles.  It  is  otherwise  with  the 
wicked.  They  may  actually  be  driven  and  forced  to 
belief  by  miracles,  and  even  to  worship  and  piety, 
but  only  for  a  little  while;  for  their  evils  are  thereby 
shut  in,  the  lusts  of  which  and  their  delights  act  con- 
tinually upon  their  external  worship  and  piety ;  and  in 


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order  to  get  out  of  their  confinement  and  break  away, 
they  think  about  the  miracle,  and  finally  call  it  a  trick 
or  artifice,  or  a  work  of  nature,  and  so  return  to  their 
evils.  And  he  who  after  worship  returns  to  his  evils, 
profanes  the  good  and  true  iu  w^orship ;  and  the  lot 
after  death  of  those  who  i)rofane,  is  the  worst  of  all. 
These  are  they  who  are  meant  by  the  Lord's  words  in 
Matt.  xii.  43-45,  whose  last  state  becomes  worse  than 
the  first.  Moreover,  if  miracles  were  to  take  place 
among  those  who  do  not  believe  from  the  miracles  iu 
the  Word,  they  would  take  place  continually,  and  before 
the  eyes  of  all  such  persons.  From  this  it  may  be  seen 
why  miracles  do  not  take  place  at  the  present  day. 

II.  —  No  one  is  reformed  by  visions  and  conversations 
with  the  departed,  because  they  are  compulsory.  Visions 
are  of  two  kinds,  divine  and  diabolical.  Divine  visions 
are  produced  by  representatives  in  heaven ;  diabolical 
visions  by  the  magic  of  hell.  There  are  also  fantastic 
visions  which  are  illusions  of  abstracted  minds.  Divine 
visions,  which  are  produced  by  the  representatives  iu 
heaven,  are  such  as  took  place  with  the  prophets,  who 
when  iu  vision  were  not  in  the  body,  but  in  spirit.  For 
visions  cannot  appear  to  any  man  iu  the  waking  states 
of  the  body.  Therefore  when  they  did  appear  to  the 
prophets,  they  are  said  to  have  been  then  iu  spirit  as  is 
evident  from  the  following  passages:  Ezek.  i.  10;  viii. 
3  ;  xi.  1,  24  ;  xl.  to  xlviii.,  xliii.  5  ;  Zech.  i.  8  ;  v.  18  ;  ii. 
1 ;  iv.  1 ;  v.  1-6  ;  vi.  1 ;  Dan.  vii.  1,  2,  7,  13;  viii.  2; 
ix.  21 ;  Rev.  i.  12-16  ;  v.,  vi.,  viii.,  ix.,  xii.,  xvii.,  xviii., 


CONVEnSATIONS  WITH  THE  DEPARTED.  107 


six.,  xxi.,  xxii. — That  John  saw  the  things  he  describes 
iu  spiritual  vision,  is  stated.  Rev.  i.  10 ;  iv.  2 ;  v.  1 ;  vi. 
1 ;  xxi.  1,  2. 

Such  were  the  visions  which  appeared  to  the  propliets 
from  heaven  before  their  spiritual  not  their  bodily  sight. 
Such  visions  do  not  take  place  at  the  present  day,  for 
if  they  did  they  would  not  be  understood  ;  because  they 
are  formed  by  means  of  representatives,  the  particulars 
of  which  signify  the  internal  things  of  the  church  and 
the  mysteries  of  heaven.  Moreover,  it  was  foretold  by 
Daniel  (ix.  24),  that  they  would  cease  after  the  Lord's 
advent.  But  diabolical  tTsIons  have  sometimes  ap- 
peared, induced  by  enthusiastic  and  visionary  spirits, 
who,  from  the  delirium  that  possessed  them,  called  them- 
selves the  Holy  Spirit.  From  this  it  is  plain  that  no 
one  can  be  reformed  by  any  other  visions  than  those  in 
the  AYord.  There  are  also  fantastic  visions,  but  these 
are  mere  illusions  of  abstracted  minds. 

That  neither  is  any  cue  reformed  by  conversations 
with  the  departed,  may  be  seen  from  the  Lord's  words 
concerning  the  rich  man  in  hell,  and  Lazarus  in  Abra- 
ham's bosom  ;  Luke  xvi.  27-31.  Conversation  with  the 
dead  would  produce  the  same  effect  as  miracles ;  that 
is,  a  man  would  be  persuaded  and  compelled  to  worship 
for  a  little  while  ;  but  as  this  deprives  him  of  rationality, 
and  at  the  same  time  shuts  in  his  evils,  this  spell  or  in- 
ternal bond  is  loosed,  and  the  imprisoned  evils  break 
out  with  blasphemy  and  profanation.  But  this  takes 
place  only  when  spirits  fasten  upon  man  some  religious 


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THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


dogma,  which  is  never  done  by  any  good  spirit,  still 
less  by  an  angel  of  heaven. 

Yet  there  does  take  place  conversation  with  spirits, 
though  rarely  with  the  angels  of  heaven ;  and  it  has 
existed  with  many  for  centuries.  But  when  it  takes 
place,  they  speak  with  man  in  his  mother  tongue,  and 
only  a  few  words.  But  they  who  speak  by  the  Lord's 
permission  never  say  anything  which  takes  away  man's 
reason ;  nor  do  they  teach.  The  Lord  alone  teaches 
man,  but  mediately  by  enlightenment  through  the 
Word.  The  truth  of  this  I  have  been  taught  by  per- 
sonal experience.  I  have  conversed  with  angels  and 
spirits  now  for  several  years ;  nor  has  any  spirit  dared, 
nor  any  angel  desired,  to  say  anything  to  me,  still  less 
to  instruct  me,  about  anything  in  the  Word,  or  about 
anything  doctrinal  drawn  from  the  Word  ;  but  the  Lord 
alone  has  taught  me,  who  has  been  revealed  to  me,  and 
has  since  appeared  constantly  before  my  eyes,  and  does 
yet,  as  a  Sun,  in  which  He  is  (just  as  He  appears  to  the 
angels),  and  has  enlightened  me. 

HL  —  No  one  is  reformed  bif  threats  and  puniahments, 
because  they  are  eompulsory.  It  is  known  that  the  ex- 
ternal cannot  force  the  internal ;  but  the  internal  can 
force  the  external ;  also  that  the  internal  is  so  averse  to 
compulsion  by  the  external,  as  to  turn  itself  away  from 
it.  It  is  also  known  that  external  delights  allure  the 
internal  to  consent  and  love  ;  it  may  also  be  known  that 
there  exists  a  forced  internal  and  a  free.  But  all  these 
facts,  though  known,  need  illustration. — 


LOVE  CANSOT  BE  COMPELLED.  109 


1st.  The  external  cannot  force  the  internal,  but  the  in- 
ternal can  force  the  external.  Who  can  be  compelled  to 
believe  and  love  ?  One  can  no  more  be  compelled  to  be- 
lieve than  he  can  to  think  a  thing  is  so,  when  he  does  not 
think  so ;  and  he  can  no  more  be  compelled  to  love, 
than  his  will  can  be  forced  contrary  to  his  will ;  for 
faith  is  a  matter  of  thonght,  and  love  of  will.  But  the 
internal  may  be  compelled  by  the  external  not  to  speak 
ill  of  the  laws  of  the  kingdom,  the  moralities  of  life, 
and  the  sanctities  of  the  church.  Thus  far  the  internal 
may  be  compelled  by  threats  and  punishments;  and 
moreover  is,  and  ought  to  be.  But  this  is  not  the  truly 
human  internal ;  it  is  that  which  man  has  in  common 
with  animals,  which  may  also  be  compelled.  The  hu- 
man internal  resides  above  this  animal  internal.  It  is 
the  human  internal  which  is  here  meant,  and  which 
cannot  be  compelled. 

2d.  The  internal  is  so  averse  to  compulsion  by  the  ex- 
ternal as  to  turn  itself  away  from  it.  This  is  because  the 
internal  desires  to  be  in  freedom,  and  loves  freedom  ; 
for  freedom  is  of  man's  love  or  life.  Therefore  when 
freedom  feels  itself  under  compulsion,  it  withdraws  as 
it  were  within  itself,  and  turns  itself  away,  and  looks 
upon  compulsion  as  its  enemy.  For  love  which  con- 
stitutes man's  life,  feels  exasperated  and  causes  the  man 
to  think  that  he  is  not  his  own,  and  consequently  does 
not  live  his  own  life.  That  such  is  the  nature  of  man's 
internal,  arises  from  the  law  of  the  Divine  Providence, 
that  man  should  act  from  freedom  according  to  reason. 
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110  THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


From  tliis  it  is  plain  that  it  is  injurious  to  force  men 
to  Divine  worship  by  threats  and  punishments.  But 
there  are  some  who  allow  themselves  to  be  forced  into 
religion,  and  some  who  do  not.  Among  those  who  do, 
are  many  of  the  papal  nations ;  but  this  takes  place 
Avith  those  in  whose  worship  there  is  nothing  internal, 
but  all  is  external.  Among  those  who  will  not  endure 
compulsion,  are  many  of  the  English  nation ;  from 
which  comes  the  existence  of  an  internal  in  their  wor- 
ship, and  what  is  external  in  it  is  from  the  internal. 
Their  interiors  with  reference  to  religion,  appear  in 
spiritual  light  like  bright  clouds;  while  those  of  the 
former  appear  in  the  light  of  heaven  like  dark  clouds. 
Both  facts  are  to  be  seen  in  the  spiritual  world;  and 
any  one  who  wishes  will  see  them  when  he  goes  to  that 
world  after  death.  Moreover,  forced  worship  shuts  in 
evils,  which  then  lie  hidden  like  fire  in  wood  under 
ashes,  which  continually  works  and  spreads  until  it 
breaks  out  in  flames ;  while  worship  not  forced,  but 
spontaneous,  does  not  shut  in  evils,  which  are  therefore 
like  fires  that  burn  out  instantly  and  then  cease. 

3d.  External  delights  allure  the  internal  to  consent, 
and  also  to  love.  Delights  are  of  two  kinds  —  of  the 
understanding  and  of  the  will ;  those  of  the  under- 
standing are  delights  of  wisdom,  and  those  of  the  will 
are  delights  of  love ;  for  wisdom  belongs  to  the  under- 
standing, and  love  to  the  will.  Now  as  the  delights  of 
the  body  and  its  senses,  which  are  external  delights,  act 
as  one  with  internal  delights  which  belong  to  the  uu- 


A  FREE  AND  A  FORCED  INTERNAL.  Ill 


dcrstaudiug  and  will,  it  follows  that  as  the  internal  is 
so  averse  to  compulsion  by  the  external  as  to  turn  it- 
^^elf  away  from  it,  so  does  it  look  favorably  upon  delight 
in  the  external,  even  so  far  as  to  turn  itself  to  it;  tlius 
arises  consent  on  the  part  of  the  understanding,  and 
love  on  the  part  of  the  will.  All  infants  in  the  spir- 
itual world  are  introduced  by  the  Lord  into  wisdom, 
and  thereby  into  heavenly  love,  by  means  of  things 
delightful  and  pleasing;  first  by  things  beautiful  in 
their  homes,  and  by  what  is  pleasing  in  gardens  ;  then 
by  representatives  of  things  spiritual,  which  affect  tlie 
interiors  of  their  minds  with  pleasure;  and  finally  by 
tlie  truths  of  wisdom,  and  so  by  the  good  of  love  — 
tlius  continually  by  delights  in  their  order;  first  by 
tlie  delights  of  love  in  the  understanding  and  its  wis- 
dom ;  then  by  the  delights  of  love  in  the  will,  which 
love  becomes  their  life's  love,  to  which  everytliing  else 
tiiat  has  entered  by  delight  is  kept  in  subordination. 
This  takes  place  because  the  whole  of  the  understand- 
ing and  will  must  be  formed  by  the  external  before  it 
is  formed  by  the  internal ;  for  it  is  formed  first  by 
means  of  what  enters  through  the  bodily  senses,  espe- 
cially through  sight  and  hearing;  and  when  the  first 
understanding  and  will  are  formed,  then  internal  thongiit 
regards  them  as  the  external  of  its  thought,  and  either 
unites  with  them  or  separates  from  them ;  unites  with 
them  if  they  are  delightful  to  it,  and  separates  from 
them  if  they  are  not. — 

4th.  There  exists  a  forced  udernul  and  a  free.  A  for<;ed 


112 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


internal  exists  with  those  who  are  in  external  worship 
only,  and  in  no  internal  worship ;  for  their  internal  is 
to  think  and  desire  that  to  which  their  external  is  forced. 
These  are  they  who  worship  men,  living  and  dead,  and 
consequently  worship  idols,  and  build  their  faith  upon 
miracles.  This  class  has  no  internal  but  what  is  like 
their  external.  But  with  those  who  are  in  internal 
worship  there  also  exists  a  forced  internal,  either  from 
fear  or  from  love  ;  an  internal  forced  by  fear  exists  in 
those  who  are  afraid  of  hell-fire  and  its  torment,  but 
this  internal  is  not  the  internal  of  thought,  of  which 
we  have  before  treated,  but  the  external,  which  is  here 
called  the  internal  because  it  belongs  to  thought.  The 
internal  of  thought,  before  treated  of,  cannot  be  forced 
by  fear  at  all,  but  may  by  love  and  by  fear  of  the  loss 
of  love.  The  fear  of  God  in  the  true  sense  is  no  other. 
Compulsion  by  love  and  by  fears  for  its  loss,  is  self- 
compulsion,  which  is  not  contrary  to  liberty  and  ration- 
ality, as  will  be  seen  hereafter. 

From  this  will  appear  the  nature  of  forced  worship, 
and  of  worship  not  forced.  Forced  worship  is  corporeal, 
lifeless,  gloomy  and  sad ;  corporeal,  because  it  belongs 
to  the  body  and  not  to  the  mind  ;  lifeless,  because  there 
is  no  life  within  it ;  gloomy,  because  the  understanding 
is  not  in  it;  and  sad,  because  the  joy  of  heaven  is  not 
in  it.  But  unforced  worship  when  it  is  genuine,  is 
spiritual,  living,  bright  and  happy;  spiritual,  because 
the  spirit  within  it  is  from  the  Lord ;  living,  because 
there  is  life  within  it  from  the  Lord ;  bright,  because 


STATES  THAT  HINDER  EEFORMATION. 


113 


there  is  wisdom  in  it  from  the  Lord ;  and  happy,  be- 
cause there  is  heaven  in  it  from  the  Lord. 

IV.  —  No  one  is  reformed  in  states  that  are  not  of 
rationality  and  liberty.  —  As  no  man  can  be  reformed 
and  regenerated  unless  the  good  is  appropriated  to  his 
will  so  as  to  seem  his  own,  and  the  true  to  his  under- 
standing so  as  to  seem  his  own  also ;  and  as  nothing 
can  be  appropriated  to  any  one,  except  what  his  under- 
standing adopts  from  freedom  of  will  according  to 
reason,  it  follows  that  no  one  is  reformed  in  states  that 
are  not  of  rationality  and  liberty.  The  states  that  are 
not  of  liberty  and  rationality  are  many,  but  in  general 
they  may  be  referred  to  the  following :  states  of  fear, 
of  misfortune,  of  disordered  feelings,  of  bodily  disease, 
of  ignorance,  and  of  intellectual  blindness.  But  some- 
thing shall  be  said  of  each  state  in  particular. 

No  one  is  reformed  in  states  of  fear,  because  fear 
takes  away  freedom  and  reason,  or  liberty  and  ration- 
alit)'-.  For  love  opens  the  mind's  interiors,  but  fear 
closes  them ;  and  when  they  are  closed  man  thinks  but 
little,  and  only  of  what  tiien  presents  itself  to  his  feel- 
ings or  senses.  All  fears  which  take  possession  of  the 
mind  have  this  effect.  Man  has  an  internal  and  an  ex-' 
ternal  of  thought.  Fear  can  never  take  possession  of 
the  internal  of  thought;  this  is  always  in  freedom,  be- 
cause in  its  life's  love.  But  fear  can  take  possession  of 
the  external  of  thought,  and  when  it  does,  the  internal 
is  closed ;  and  then  man  can  no  longer  act  from  freedom 
according  to  his  reason,  thus  cannot  be  reformed.  The 
10*  H 


114 


THE  SWEDEiXnoUG  LIURARY. 


fear  which  takes  possession  of  the  external  of  thought 
and  closes  the  internal,  is  especially  the  fear  of  the  loss 
of  honor  or  wealth  ;  but  the  fear  of  civil  punishments 
and  of  external  ecclesiastical  punishments  does  not 
close  the  internal  of  thought,  because  these  laws  only 
declare  penalties  against  those  who  speak  and  act  con- 
trary to  the  civil  interests  of  the  kingdom  and  the  spir- 
itual interests  of  the  church,  not  against  those  who  think 
in  opposition  to  them.  The  fear  of  infernal  punishment 
does  indeed  take  possession  of  the  external  of  thought, 
but  only  for  a  few  moments,  hours,  or  days ;  and  the  ex- 
ternal of  thought  is  soon  restored  to  the  freedom  it  de- 
rives from  the  internal  of  thought,  which  is  proper  to 
its  life's  love,  and  is  called  the  heart's  thought.  But 
fear  of  the  loss  of  honor  and  wealth  seizes  the  external 
of  man's  thought ;  and  when  it  does  so,  it  closes  the 
internal  of  thought  from  above  against  influx  from 
heaven,  and  renders  man's  reformation  impossible. 
This  is  because  every  man's  life's  love  is  by  birth  the 
love  of  self  and  the  world  ;  and  the  love  of  self  makes 
one  with  the  love  of  honor,  while  the  love  of  the  world 
makes  one  with  the  love  of  wealth.  Therefore  when 
man  has  acquired  honor  or  wealth,  for  fear  of  losing 
them  he  strengthens  in  himself  the  means  subservient 
to  them,  which  are  either  civil  or  ecclesiastical,  and  in 
both  cases  means  of  power. —  But  as  the  loves  of  self 
and  the  world  arc  infernal  loves,  and  are  the  fouutaia- 
lieads  of  all  evils,  the  character  of  internal  thought  in 
itself,  with  those  in  whom  these  are  the  life's  loves  or 


FEAR  AXD  MISFORTUNE  HINDER. 


115 


the  ruliug  loves,  is  obvious,  viz. :  that  it  is  full  of  the 
lusts  of  all  kinds  of  evil.  They  are  ignorant  of  this, 
who  for  fear  of  the  loss  of  dignity  and  opulence  are 
strongly  persuaded  of  their  religious  principle,  espe- 
cially of  that  which  inculcates  a  worship  of  thera  as 
deities,  and  at  the  same  time  as  the  gods  of  hell.  These 
are  capable  of  a  burning  zeal,  apparently  for  the  salva- 
tion of  souls  ;  and  yet  it  is  from  infernal  fire.  As  this 
fear  especially  takes  away  rationality  itself  and  liberty 
itself,  which  are  in  their  origin  heavenly,  it  manifestly 
prevents  the  possibility  of  man's  regeneration. 

No  one  is  reformed  in  states  of  misfortune,  if  he  thinks 
of  God  only  then,  and  implores  his  aid,  because  this  is 
a  forced  state;  therefore  when  the  man  enters  a  state 
of  freedom,  he  returns  to  his  former  state  in  which  he 
had  thought  little  if  anything  about  God.  It  is  other- 
wise with  those  who  in  the  previous  state  of  freedom 
feared  God.  By  the  fear  of  God  is  meant  the  fear 
of  offending  Him,  and  to  offend  Him  is  to  sin ;  and 
this  is  not  a  state  of  fear,  but  of  love.  Does  not  any 
one  who  loves  another  fear  to  do  him  wrong  ?  and  fear 
it  more,  the  more  he  loves?  Without  this  fear,  love  is 
tasteless  and  superficial  —  a  mere  matter  of  thought 
without  will.  By  states  of  misfortune  are  meant  states 
of  desperation  from  danger,  as  in  battles,  duels,  ship- 
wrecks, falls,  fires;  sudden  and  unexpected  loss  of 
wealth,  of  office  and  its  honors ;  and  other  things  of 
the  same  kind.  To  think  of  God  under  such  circum- 
stances only,  is  not  from  God  but  from  self    For  the 


116  THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


mind  is  then,  as  it  were,  imprisoned  in  the  body ;  thus 
not  in  a  state  of  liberty  or  rationality,  without  which 
there  is  no  reformation. 

No  one  is  reformed  in  states  of  disordered  feeling,  be- 
cause they  take  away  rationality,  and  consequently 
freedom  of  action  according  to  reason.  For  the  mind 
is  sick  aud  unsound :  and  a  sound  mind  is  rational,  but 
a  sick  mind  is  not.  Such  disordered  conditions  are 
melancholy,  a  false  and  spurious  conscience,  various 
hallucinations,  depi-ession  of  spirits  from  misfortune, 
anxiety  and  mental  suffering  arising  from  a  vitiated 
physical  condition.  This  latter  state  is  sometimes  mis- 
taken for  temptation,  but  it  is  not ;  because  genuine 
temptation  has  spiritual  objects  in  view,  and  in  it  the 
mind  is  wise ;  while  that  state  has  natural  objects  in 
view,  and  in  it  the  mind  is  unsound. 

No  one  is  reformed  in  states  of  bodily  disease,  because 
reason  is  not  then  in  a  state  of  freedom  ;  for  the  state 
of  the  mind  depends  on  that  of  tlie  body.  When  the 
body  is  sick,  the  mind  is  sick  also  —  if  not  otherwise, 
yet  by  removal  from  the  world ;  for  the  mind  removed 
from  the  world,  though  it  thinks  of  God,  does  not  think 
from  God,  because  it  does  not  possess  freedom  of  reason. 
Man  possesses  freedom  of  reason  from  the  fact  that  he 
is  midway  between  heaven  and  the  world,  and  may  think 
from  both,  or  of  the  world  from  heaven,  or  of  heaven 
from  the  world.  Therefore  when  man  is  in  a  state  of 
sickness,  and  thinks  of  death  and  of  his  soul's  state  after 
death,  he  is  not  then  in  the  world ;  he  is  abstracted  in 


IGNORANCE  HINDERS 


117 


spirit,  and  in  this  state  only  no  man  can  be  reformed  ; 
but  liis  state  may  be  confirmed  if  he  was  reformed  be- 
fore his  sickness.  It  is  the  same  with  those  who  give 
up  the  world  and  all  its  affairs,  and  give  themselves 
solely  to  the  contemplation  of  God,  heaven  and  salva- 
tion. Therefore  these  persons,  if  not  reformed  before 
their  sickness,  afterwards,  if  they  die,  become  such  as 
they  were  before.  It  is,  therefore,  a  mistake  to  suppose 
that  any  man  can  repent  or  receive  any  degree  of  faith 
in  sickness ;  for  there  is  nothing  done  in  that  repent- 
ance, and  there  is  no  charity  in  that  faith ;  thus  both 
belong  wholly  to  the  lips,  and  not  at  all  to  the  heart. 

No  one  is  reformed  in  a  state  of  ignorance,  because 
all  reformation  is  effected  by  truths  and  a  life  accord- 
ing to  them  ;  consequently  they  who  are  ignorant  of 
truths  cannot  be  reformed ;  but  if  they  desire  to  un- 
derstand truth  from  an  aftection  for  it,  they  are  reformed 
after  death  in  the  spiritual  world. 

Nor  can  any  one  be  reformed  in  a  state  of  intellectual 
blindness.  Men  in  this  state  are  also  ignorant  of  truths, 
and  consequently  of  life ;  for  the  understanding  is  to 
teach  truth,  and  the  will  is  to  act  accordingly;  and 
when  the  will  does  what  the  understanding  teaches,  then 
its  life  becomes  accordant  with  truth.  But  when  the 
understanding  is  blind,  the  will  is  also  closed  up,  and 
acts  from  freedom  according  to  its  reason  only  in  prac- 
tising the  evil  confirmed  in  the  understanding,  which 
evil  is  also  the  fiilse.  In  addition  to  ignorance,  a  religion 
which  inculcates  a  blind  faith  also  darkens  the  under- 


118  THE  SWEDENBOIiG  LIBRARY. 


standing.  So  also  does  false  doctrine  ;  for  as  truth  opens 
the  understanding,  so  does  falsity  close  it ;  it  closes  the 
higher  region,  but  opens  the  lower ;  and  the  under 
standing  open  below  only,  cannot  see  truth,  but  can 
only  confirm  whatever  it  wishes,  especially  falsity.  The 
lusts  of  evil  also  darken  the  understanding;  so  long  as 
the  will  is  in  evil,  it  employs  the  understanding  to  con- 
firm it ;  and  so  far  as  the  lusts  of  evil  are  confirmed, 
the  will  cannot  be  in  affection  for  the  good,  and  from 
this  see  truth,  and  so  be  reformed.  For  example :  who- 
ever is  in  the  lust  of  adultery,  his  will,  which  is  in  the 
delight  of  its  love,  employs  the  understanding  to  con- 
firm it,  saying.  What  is  adultery?  Is  there  any  harm 
in  it?  Is  not  intercourse  between  man  and  wife  the 
same?  What  has  spirituality  in  common  with  mar- 
riage? So  argues  the  understanding,  which  is  then 
the  will's  prostitute,  and  has  become  so  stupefied  by 
debauchery  with  the  will,  that  it  cannot  see  that  con- 
jugial  love  is  spiritually-celestial  love  itself,  which  is 
an  image  of  the  love  of  the  Lord  and  the  church 
(from  which,  moreover,  it  is  derived),  and  thus  that  it 
is  essentially  sacred,  is  chastity  itself,  purity  and  inno- 
cence; and  that  it  makes  men  loves  in  form. —  Adultery 
destroys  tliis  form,  and  with  it  the  image  of  the  Lord. 
And  as  adultery  is  profane,  therefore  hell  is  called 
adultery,  and  heaven  on  the  other  hand  is  called  mar- 
riage. Moreover,  the  love  of  adultery  communicates 
with  the  lowest  hell,  while  love  truly  coujugial  com- 
municates with  the  highest  heaven.  — 


SELF-COMPULSrON  NECESSARY. 


119 


Y. —  Self-eompnUion  is  not  contrary  to  rationalify  and 
liberty.  Man's  thought  has  an  internal  and  an  external, 
which  are  distinct  as  prior  and  posterior,  or  as  higher 
and  lower.  These  act  separately  when  man's  words 
and  actions  from  the  external  of  thought  are  at  vari- 
ance with  his  interior  thought  and  will ;  and  they  act 
unitedly  when  man  says  what  he  thinks  and  does  what 
he  wishes.  This  is  generally  the  case  with  the  sincere, 
but  that  with  the  insincere.  Now  since  the  mind's  in- 
ternal and  external  are  thus  distinct,  the  internal  may 
fight  with  the  external,  and  by  conflict  force  it  to  har- 
monize. Conflict  arises  when  man  regards  evils  as  sins, 
and  wishes  to  abstain  from  them  ;  for  when  he  abstains 
the  door  is  opened,  and  then  the  lusts  of  evil,  which 
possessed  the  internal  thought,  are  expelled  by  the 
Lord,  and  affections  for  the  good  are  implanted  in 
their  place.  This  takes  place  iu  the  internal  of 
thought.  But  as  the  delights  of  the  lusts  of  evil, 
which  occupy  the  external  of  thought,  cannot  be  sim- 
ultaneously expelled,  therefore  conflict  arises  between 
the  internal  and  the  external  of  thought ;  the  former 
desiring  to  expel  those  delights,  and  to  introduce  in 
their  place  the  delights  of  good.  The  good's  delight  ' 
is  what  is  called  the  good  of  charity.  From  this  con- 
trariety arises  conflict,  which  if  severe  is  called  tempta- 
tion. Now  as  man  is  man  from  the  internal  of  his 
thought  (for  this  is  man's  very  spirit),  it  is  evident  that 
he  compels  himself  when  he  forces  the  external  of  his 
thought  into  harmony,  or  compels  it  to  receive  the 


120 


THE  SWEDEWnORO  LIBRARY. 


delights  of  its  affections,  whicli  are  the  good  of  charity. 
That  this  is  not  contrary  to  liberty  and  rationality, 
but  in  accordance  with  thera,  is  plain  ;  for  rationality 
raises  the  conflict,  and  liberty  carries  it  on.  Moreover, 
liberty  itself,  together  with  rationality,  resides  in  the  in- 
ternal man,  and  from  this  in  the  external.  Wiien,  there- 
fore, the  internal  conquers,  as  it  does  when  it  reduces 
the  external  to  harmony  and  obedience,  then  man  is 
gifted  by  the  Lord  with  liberty  itself  and  rationality 
itself;  for  man  is  then  withdrawn  by  the  Lord  from 
infernal  freedom,  which  is  essentially  bondage,  and  is 
introduced  into  heavenly  freedom,  which  is  real  freedom, 
and  is  associated  with  angels.    (John  viii.  31-36.) 

This  may  be  illustrated  by  the  example  of  a  man 
■who  has  taken  delight  in  fraud  and  secret  theft,  and 
afterwards  sees  and  internally  acknowledges  that  they 
are  sins,  and  therefore  wishes  to  abstain  from  them. 
When  he  does  so,  a  conflict  arises  between  his  internal 
and  external  man.  The  internal  man  has  an  affection 
for  sincerity,  but  the  external  man  still  takes  delight 
in  fraud;  whicli  (leli<;iit,  bccau.se  it  is  totally  opposed 
to  a  delight  in  sincerity,  does  not  yield  unless  compelled, 
nor  can  it  be  compelled  to  do  so  unless  by  conflict. 
And  then,  when  the  internal  man  conquers,  the  exter- 
nal finds  delight  in  the  love  of  sincerity,  which  is 
charity :  afterwards  his  delight  in  fraud  gradually 
becomes  distasteful.  It  is  the  same  with  other  sins, 
as  with  adultery,  fornication,  revenge,  hatred,  blas- 
phemy and  lying.    But  the  most  difficult  conflict  of 


SPIRITUAL  CONFLICT. 


121 


all  is  with  the  love  of  rule  originating  in  self-love. 
He  who  subdues  this,  easily  subdues  all  other  evil  loves, 
because  this  is  their  chief. 

So  soon  as  man  upon  examination  acknowledges 
evils  as  sins  against  God,  because  contrary  to  divine 
laws,  and  therefore  wishes  to  desist  from  them,  the 
Lord  opens  his  spiritual  mind,  and  enters  into  the  nat- 
ural through  affections  for  the  true  and  good,  and 
enters  into  the  rational  faculty,  and  from  that  disposes 
in  order  what  is  contrary  to  order  in  the  natural  mind 
below.  This  is  what  appears  to  man  as  conflict,  and  in 
those  who  have  largely  indulged  in  the  delights  of  evil, 
as  temptation  :  for  the  man's  nature  suffers  when  the 
order  of  his  thoughts  is  inverted.  Now  as  the  conflict 
is  with  what  is  in  the  man  himself  and  with  what  he 
feels  as  his  own,  and  as  no  one  can  contend  with  him- 
self unless  from  an  interior  self  and  from  freedom  there, 
it  follows  that  the  internal  man  is  then  in  conflict  with 
the  external,  and  this  from  freedom,  and  that  he  forces 
the  external  to  obedience ;  and  this  is  self-compulsion. 
That  it  is  not  contrary  to  liberty  and  rationality,  but  in 
accordance  with  them,  is  evident. 

^Moreover,  every  man  desires  to  be  free,  and  to  release 
himself  from  restraint  or  bondage.  —  All  who  serve 
voluntarily  for  the  sake  of  liberty  force  themselves  to 
do  so ;  and  when  they  force  themselves  they  act  from 
freedom  according  to  reason  —  but  from  interior  free- 
dom, from  which  exterior  freedom  is  regarded  as  a 
servant. 
11 


122 


THE  SWEDENBORO  LIBRARY. 


Man  is  not  equally  desirous  of  passing  from  spiritual 
bondage  to  spiritual  liberty :  First,  because  he  does  not 
know  what  either  spiritual  bondage  or  spiritual  freedom 
is.  He  is  not  in  possession  of  the  truths  which  teach 
this  ;  and  without  truths  spiritual  bondage  is  believed 
to  be  freedom,  and  spiritual  freedom,  bondage.  Sec- 
ondly, because  the  religion  of  the  Christian  world  has 
closed  up  the  understanding,  and  faith  alone  has  sealed 
it ;  for  every  church  has  built  about  itself  like  a  wall 
of  iron  this  dogma,  that  theology  transcends  the  under- 
standing, and  is  therefore  not  to  be  approached  by 
reason  at  all,  and  is  for  the  blind,  not  for  those  who  see. 
By  this  means  the  truths  which  would  teach  the  nature 
of  spiritual  liberty  are  hidden  from  sight.  Thirdly, 
because  few  examine  themselves,  and  see  their  sins; 
and  he  who  does  not  see  his  sins  and  desist  from  them, 
is  in  the  freedom  of  sin,  which  is  infernal  freedom,  in 
itself  bondage;  and  from  this  to  see  heavenly  freedom, 
which  is  freedom  itself,  is  like  seeing  the  day  in  dark- 
ness, or  like  seeing  from  beneath  a  black  cloud  that 
which  is  from  the  sun  above  it.  For  these  reasons  the 
nature  of  heavenly  freedom  is  not  known ;  nor  the  fact 
of  a  distinction  between  it  and  infernal  freedom  like 
that  between  the  living  and  the  dead. 

VI.  —  The  external  man  must  be  reformed 

THROUGH   THE   INTERNAL,    AND   NOT   THE  REVERSE. 

The  reformation  of  the  external  by  the  internal  means 
the  influx  of  the  internal  into  the  external,  and  not  the 
reverse.    That  there  is  an  influx  I'rom  the  spiritual  into 


STAGES  OF  REFORMATION. 


123 


the  natural,  and  not  the  reverse,  is  known  in  tlie  learned 
world  ;  and  that  the  internal  man  must  first  be  purified 
and  renewed,  and  thus  the  external,  is  known  in  the 
church.  This  is  known  because  the  Lord  so  teaches 
and  reason  so  dictates.  The  Lord  teaches  it  in  these 
words :  "  Woe  unto  you,  .  .  hypocrites  !  for  ye  make 
clean  the  outside  of  the  cup  and  of  the  platter,  but 
within  they  are  full  of  extortion  and  excess.  Thou 
blind  Pharisee,  cleanse  first  the  inside  of  the  cup  and 
platter,  that  the  outside  of  them  may  be  clean  also." 
U-Ait.  xxiii.  25,  26.— 

But  how  the  internal  man  is  reformed,  and  through 
it  the  external,  shall  be  briefly  explained.  The  internal 
man  is  not  reformed  by  knowledge,  intelligence  and 
wisdom  alone,  consequently  not  by  thought  alone ;  but 
by  the  agreement  of  his  will  with  what  his  knowledge, 
intelligence  and  wisdom  teach.  When  man  has  the 
knowledge,  intelligence  and  wisdom  to  see  that  there  is 
a  heaven  and  a  hell,  and  that  all  evil  is  from  hell  and 
all  good  from  heaven,  if  his  will  is  then  opposed  to  evil 
because  it  is  from  hell,  and  inclines  to  good  because  it 
is  from  heaven,  he  is  then  in  the  first  stage  of  reforma- 
tion, and  has  taken  the  first  step  from  hell  towards 
heaven.  When  he  advances  further,  and  wishes  to 
cease  to  do  evil,  he  is  in  the  second  stage  of  reforma- 
tion, and  is  then  outside  of  hell,  but  not  yet  in  heaven, 
which  he  sees  above  him.  This  internal  state  is  neces- 
sary to  his  reformation  ;  but  unless  the  external  and 
the  internal  both  are  reformed,  the  man  is  not  reformed. 


124  THE  SWEDENBORG  LTBItARY. 

Tlie  external  is  reformed  by  the  internal  when  it  ceases 
to  do  the  evil  which  the  internal  o])poses  in  will  because 
it  is  infernal,  and  still  more  when  it  therefore  shuns  and 
fights  against  it.  Thus  the  internal  is  volition,  and  the 
external  action  :  for  if  a  man's  will  is  not  embodied  in 
action,  there  is  within  it  an  unwillingness,  and  finally 
the  desire  ceases  altogether.  From  these  few  state- 
ments it  may  be  seen  how  the  external  man  is  reformed 
through  the  internal. — 

Since  man  possesses  an  internal  and  an  external,  and 
both  must  be  reformed  in  order  that  the  man  may  be 
reformed ;  and  as  no  man  can  be  reformed  unless  he 
examines  himself,  sees  and  acknowledges  his  evils,  and 
afterwards  abstains  from  them,  it  follows  that  not  only 
the  external  must  be  examined,  but  also  the  internal. 
If  the  external  only  is  examined,  he  sees  only  what  he 
has  actually  done,  as  that  he  has  not  committed  murder, 
adultery  or  theft,  nor  borne  false  witness,  and  so  on. 
He  thus  examines  his  bodily  evils,  but  not  those  of  his 
spirit ;  and  yet  the  latter  must  be  examined  in  order 
that  any  one  may  be  reformed.  For  after  death  man 
lives  as  a  spirit,  and  all  the  evils  which  are  in  his 
spirit  remain  ;  and  the  spirit  cannot  be  examined  un- 
less by  man's  observing  his  own  thoughts,  .especially  his 
intentions;  for  these  are  the  will's  thoughts.  Here 
exist  evils  in  their  origin  and  root  —  that  is,  in  their 
lusts  and  delights ;  and  unless  these  are  seen  and  ac- 
knowledged, man  is  still  in  evils,  although  he  has  not 
externally  practised  them.    That  thouglit  from  inten- 


BLINDING  EFFECT  OF  FAITH  ALOXE.  125 


tion  is  will  and  action,  is  plain  from  the  Lord's  words : 
"  Whosoever  looketh  on  a  woman  to  lust  after  her,  hath 
committed  adultery  with  her  already  in  his  heart." 
Matt.  V.  28.  Such  is  the  examination  of  the  internal 
man,  by  which  the  external  man  is  essentially  exam- 
ined. 

I  have  often  wondered  that,  although  the  whole 
Christian  world  knows  that  evils  ought  to  be  shunned 
a;5  sins,  and  that  otherwise  they  are  not  forgiven,  and 
if  not  there  is  no  salvation  ;  yet  hardly  one  in  a  thou- 
sand is  aware  of  this.  Inquiry  was  made  in  the  spir- 
itual world,  and  this  was  found  to  be  the  case. —  I  have 
also  wondered  that  the  doctrine  of  faith  alone  so  closed 
tlie  eyes,  that  when  they  who  adhere  to  it  read  the 
Word,  they  see  nothing  that  is  there  said  of  love, 
charity  and  works.  It  is  as  if  they  had  painted  the 
word  "  faith  "  over  the  whole  Word,  just  as  one  might 
cover  writing  with  red  paint,  so  that  nothing  which  is 
beneath  it  can  appear ;  and  if  anything  does  appear, 
it  is  absorbed  by  faith,  and  they  say  it  is  faith. 
11* 


VIII. 

IT  IS  A  LAW  OF  THE  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  THAT 
MAN  BE  LED  AND  TAUGHT  BY  THE  LORD 
THROUGH  THE  WORD. 

—  Man  is  led  and  taught  by  the  Lord  alone.  To 
say  that  man  is  led  aud  taught  by  the  Lord 
alone,  is  to  say  that  he  lives  from  the  Lord 
alone;  for  his  life's  will  is  led,  and  his  life's 
understanding  is  taught.  But  this  is  contrary  to  the 
appearance ;  for  to  himself  man  seems  to  live  from 
himself,  while  the  truth  is  that  he  lives  from  the  Lord 
and  not  from  himself.  He  cannot-  receive,  while  in 
the  world,  a  sensible  perception  of  the  fact  that  he 
lives  from  the  Lord  alone,  since  the  appearance  of  his 
living  from  himself  is  not  taken  away  from  him,  for 
without  thi.s  he  would  not  be  man. 

That  man  lives  from  the  Lord  alone,  and  not  from 
himself,  is  established  by  the  following  arguments:  — 

1st.  There  is  one  only  essence,  one  only  substance,  and 
one  only  form,  the  origin  of  all  created  essences,  substances 
and  j'orins.  Who  cannot  rationally  apprehend  and  ac- 
knowledge that  there  is  one  only  essence  the  source  of 
all  essence,  or  one  only  Being  (esse)  the  source  of  all 
being?  Can  anything  possess  existence  without  being? 
and  what  is  the  being  which  is  the  source  of  all  being, 

12o 


ABSOL  UTE  BEING. 


127 


unless  absolute  Being?  And  absolute  Being  is  also  the 
only  Being,  and  is  Being  in  itself.  What,  then,  fol- 
lows but  that  this  Being  which  is  the  absolutely  Divine, 
which  is  Jehovah,  is  the  all-in-all  of  everything  that 
has  being  and  existence.  It  is  the  same  to  say  that 
there  is  an  only  substance,  the  source  of  all  things ; 
and  inasmuch  as  a  substance  without  form  is  nothing, 
it  follows,  also,  that  there  is  an  only  form,  the  source 
of  all  things.  The  Sun  of  the  angelic  heaven  is  that 
only  substance  and  form. 

2d.  That  one  only  essence,  substance  and  form  is  the 
Divine  Love  and  Wisdom,  the  origin  of  all  things  which 
relate  to  love  and  wisdom  in  man.  Whatever  has  the 
appearance  of  life  in  man  relates  to  his  will  and  un- 
derstanding.—  And  since  his  will  is  according  to  what 
he  loves,  and  his  thouglit  according  to  what  he  under- 
stands, it  follows  that  all  things  of  the  will  relate  to 
love,  and  all  things  of  the  understanding  to  wisdom  ; 
and  since  these  two  faculties  can  exist  in  no  man  from 
himself,  but  only  from  Him  Avho  is  love  itself  and  wis- 
dom itself,  it  follows  that  they  are  from  the  Lord  from 
eternity,  or  Jehovah.  If  this  were  not  their  origin,  man 
would  be  love  itself  and  wisdom  itself,  therefore  God 
from  eternity,  at  which  human  reason  itself  shudders. 
Can  anything  exist,  unless  from  something  prior  to 
itself?  Can  this  again  exist,  unless  from  something 
prior  to  itself  also?  and  thus  finally,  unless  from  the 
First,  which  is  iu  Itself. 

3d.  It  is  also  the  absohdchj  Good  and  True  to  which 


128 


THE  SWEDENIiORG  LIBItARY. 


all  things  relate.  Everyone  possessed  of  reason  accepts 
and  acknowledges  tlie  truth,  that  God  is  the  absolutely 
Good  and  True,  and  that  everything  good  and  true  is 
from  Him ;  and,  tlierefore,  that  everything  good  and 
true  can  have  no  other  origin  than  the  absolutely  Good 
and  True.  This  is  acknowledged  by  every  rational  man 
the  moment  he  hears  it.  Again,  when  it  is  stated  that 
the  whole  of  the  will  and  understanding,  or  of  love  and 
wisdom,  or  of  affection  and  thought,  in  the  man  who 
is  led  by  the  Lord,  relates  to  the  good  and  true,  it  fol- 
lows that  all  the  activity  of  man's  will  and  understand- 
ing, or  of  his  love  and  wisdom,  or  of  his  affection  and 
thought,  is  from  the  Lord.  Therefore  it  is  that  every 
man  in  the  chui-ch  knows  that  everything  good  and 
true  coming  from  man  is  not  really  good  and  true,  but 
only  that  which  comes  from  the  Lord.  Since  this  is 
the  truth,  it  follows  that  all  there  is  in  the  will  and 
thought  of  such  a  man  is  from  the  Lord. 

4th.  It  is  the  Life  from  which  comes  the  life  of  all 
things,  and  all  the  things  of  life.  All  of  man's  life 
belongs  to  his  love  and  thought,  for  if  deprived  of 
these  he  ceases  to  live.  Now  as  all  will  and  under- 
standing, or  all  love  and  thought,  in  man  are  from  the 
Lord,  it  follows  that  all  life  is  from  Him. 

5th.  This  Only  and  Absolute  is  omnipresent,  omniscient 
and  omnipotent.  For  this  reason  every  one  wherever  he 
may  be  thinks  God  present  with  him,  and  prays  to  Him 
as  present ;  and  since  every  one  so  thinks  and  prays,  it 
follows  that  they  are  unable  to  think  of  God  except  as 


THE  D 1 1 INE  Til  IM  T  Y. 


129 


being  everywhere,  that  is,  omnipresent,  and  in  like 
manner  that  He  is  omniscient  and  omnipotent.  There- 
fore every  one  praying  in  his  heart  to  God,  implores  his 
guidance  because  He  is  able  to  guide.  Thus  every  one 
then  acknowledges  the  divine  omnipresence,  omnisci- 
ence and  omnipotence;  which  he  does  because  he  then 
turns  his  face  to  the  Lord,  and  then  that  truth  is  influ- 
ent from  Him. 

6th.  This  Only  and  Absolute  is  the  Lord  from  ctamitij, 
or  Jehovah.  It  is  shown  in  the  New  Church  Doctrine 
of  the  Lord,  that  God  is  One  in  essence  and  in  person, 
and  that  this  God  is  the  Lord ;  that  the  Divinity  itself, 
which  is  called  Jehovah  the  Father,  is  the  Lord  from 
eternity ;  that  the  Divine  Humanity  is  the  Son  con- 
ceived from  his  Divinity  from  eternity,  and  born  in  the 
world ;  and  that  the  proceeding  Divinity  is  the  Holy 
Spirit.— 

That  the  Lord  alone  has  life,  is  plain  from  these  pas- 
sages in  the  Word :  "  I  am  the  i-esurrection  and  the 
life :  he  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet 
shall  he  live."  John  xi.  25.  "I  am  the  way,  the  truth, 
and  the  life."  John  xiv.  6.  "  The  Word  was  God.  .  . 
In  Him  was  life,  and  the  life  was  the  light  of  men." 
John  i.  4.  "  The  Word  "  there  means  the  Lord.  "  For 
as  the  Father  liath  life  in  himself,  so  hath  He  given  to 
the  Son  to  have  life  in  himself."  John  v.  26.  That  mau 
is  led  and  taught  by  the  Lord  alone  is  shown  in  the  fol- 
lowing :  "  Without  me  ye  can  do  nothing."  John  xv.  5. 
"  A  man  can  receive  nothing,  except  it  be  given  him 
I 


130 


THE  SWEDEXDOEG  LIBltAIlY. 


from  heaven."  John  iii.  27.  "Thou  canst  not  make 
one  hair  white  or  black."  Matt.  v.  36.  A  hair  in  the 
Word  signifies  the  least  of  all  things. 

The  life  of  the  wicked  also  is  from  the  same  origin. 
From  the  sun  of  the  world  flow  heat  and  light ;  and 
they  are  shed  alike  upon  trees  which  bear  good  and 
upon  those  which  bear  bad  fruit,  and  alike  they  are 
quickened  and  grow.  The  forms  into  which  the  heat 
flows,  not  the  heat  itself,  cause  this  diversity.  It  is  the 
same  with  light,  which  appears  in  various  colors  ac- 
cording to  the  forms  into  which  it  flows.  Some  colors 
are  beautiful  and  pleasing,  while  some  are  ugly  and 
disagreeable  ;  yet  the  light  is  the  same.  It  is  the  same 
with  the  influx  of  spiritual  heat  which  is  essentially 
love,  and  of  spiritual  light  which  is  essentially  wisdom, 
from  the  Sun  of  the  spiritual  world.  The  forms  into 
which  they  flow  produce  diversity,  but  not  the  heat  and 
light  which  are  essentially  love  and  wisdom.  The  forms 
into  which  they  flow  are  human  minds.  From  these 
statements  it  is  now  evident  that  man  is  led  and  taught 
by  the  Lord  alone. 

II. —  Man  is  led  and  taught  by  ilic  Lord  alone  through 
and  from  the  angelic  heaven.  His  being  led  through  the 
angelic  heaven  is  the  appearance,  and  his  being  led 
from  that  heaven  is  the  truth.  It  appears  to  be  through 
the  angelic  heaven,  because  the  Lord  appears  above 
that  heaven  as  a  Sun  ;  and  in  reality  it  is  from  it,  be- 
cause the  Lord  is  within  that  heaven  like  the  soul  in  a 
man.    For  the  Lord  is  omnipresent  and  not  in  space, 


THE  SPIRITUAL  SUN. 


131 


as  before  explained ;  therefore  distance  is  an  appear- 
ance according  to  union  with  Him ;  and  this  union  is 
according  to  the  reception  of  love  and  wisdom  from 
Him.  And  as  no  one  can  be  united  to  the  Lord,  as 
He  actually  is  in  Himself,  therefore  to  the  angels  He 
appears  at  a  distance  like  a  Sun.  Yet  He  is  present  in 
the  whole  angelic  heaven  like  the  soul  in  man  ;  in  like 
manner  in  every  heavenly  society  and  in  every  angel 
therein.  For  man's  soul  is  not  only  the  soul  of  the 
whole  man,  but  also  the  soul  of  every  part  of  him. 
But  because  it  is  the  appearance  that  the  Lord  governs 
all  heaven,  and  through  it  the  world,  from  the  Sun 
which  is  from  Him  and  in  which  He  is ;  and  as  every 
man  is  at  liberty  to  speak  according  to  the  appearance, 
nor  can  he  do  otherwise ;  therefore  every  one  who  is 
not  in  actual  wisdom,  is  also  at  liberty  to  think  that 
the  Lord  rules  everything  and  all  things  from  his  own 
Sun,  and  also  that  He  rules  the  world  through  tlie 
angelic  heaven.  The  angels  of  the  lower  heavens  do 
think  according  to  this  appearance,  while  those  of  the 
higher  heavens  speak  according  to  it,  but  think  from 
the  reality,  which  is,  that  the  Lord  governs  the  uni- 
verse from  the  angelic  heaven,  that  is,  from  Himself. 
That  the  simple  and  wise  speak  alike,  but  do  not  think 
alike,  may  be  illustrated  by  the  sun  of  the  world.  All 
speak  of  it  according  to  the  appearance,  saying  it  wses 
and  sets ;  but  the  wise,  although  they  speak  in  the 
same  way,  yet  think  of  the  sun  as  motionless,  which  is 
also  the  reality,  while  the  former  is  the  appearance. — 


132 


THE  SWEDENBORO  LIBRARY. 


It  has  been  made  kuowu  to  me  from  things  seen  and 
heard,  that  the  universal  angelic  heaven  appears  before 
the  Lord  as  one  man,  and  likewise  every  society  of 
heaven,  and  that  therefore  every  angel  and  spirit  is  iu 
perfect  form  a  man ;  also  that  heaven  is  not  heaven 
fi-om  the  selfhood  of  the  angels,  but  from  their  recep- 
tion of  divine  love  and  wisdom  from  the  Lord.  From 
which  it  may  be  seen  that  the  Lord  governs  the  uni- 
versal angelic  heaven  as  one  man  ;  and  that  this  heaven, 
because  it  is  essentially  a  man,  is  the  very  image  and 
likeness  of  the  Lord,  and  that  He  himself  governs  it 
as  the  soul  governs  its  body. — 

But  as  this  is  an  arcanum  of  angelic  wisdom,  it  is 
incomprehensible  to  man,  unless  to  one  whose  spiritual 
mind  is  opened ;  for  he  by  union  with  the  Lord  is  an 
angel.  Man  [in  ordinary  states]  may  from  previous 
statements  comprehend  the  following:  1.  All,  both  men 
and  angels,  are  in  the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  in  them,  ac- 
cording to  their  union  with  Him,  or,  wliich  is  the  same 
thing,  according  to  their  reception  of  love  and  wisdom 
from  Him.  2.  Each  one  of  them  is  allotted  a  place  iu 
the  Lord,  therefore  in  heaven,  according  to  the  degree 
of  his  union  with  or  reception  of  the  Lord.  3.  Each 
in  his  own  place  has  his  own  state  distinct  from  that  of 
others,  and  draws  his  portion  from  the  common  bo(]y 
according  to  his  location,  function,  and  necessities,  pre- 
cisely as  in  each  part  of  the  human  body.  4.  Every 
man  is  initiated  into  his  place  by  the  Lord  according 
to  his  life.    5.  Every  man  is  from  infancy  inserted  in 


JXFLUX  AXD  ENLIGHTENMENT. 


133 


tliis  divine  body  whose  soul  and  life  is  the  Lord,  and  is 
led  and  taught  from  his  divine  love  according  to  his 
divine  wisdom,  in  Him  and  not  out  of  Him.  But  as 
man  is  not  deprived  of  freedom,  he  cannot  be  led  and 
taught  unless  according  to  reception  as  of  himself.  6. 
They  who  receive  are  borne  to  their  places  by  infinite 
windings  like  meanders,  almost  as  the  chyle  is  carried 
through  the  mesentery  and  its  lacteals  into  its  recepta- 
cle, and  from  this  through  the  thoracic  duct  into  the 
blood,  and  so  to  its  destination.  7.  They  who  do  not 
receive  are  separated  from  those  who  are  within  the 
divine  body  as  the  fasces  and  urine  are  separated  from 
man.  These  are  arcana  of  angelic  wisdom  which  man 
can  in  some  measure  comprehend ;  but  there  are  many 
more  which  he  cannot. 

III. —  Man  is  led  by  the  Lord  by  influx  and  taught  by 
enlightenment.  He  is  led  by  the  Lord  by  influx,  be- 
cause to  be  led,  and  influx  also,  are  terms  used  with 
reference  to  love  and  the  will ;  and  man  is  taught  by 
the  Lord  by  enlightenment,  because  to  be  taught  and 
to  be  enlightened  are  terms  used  properly  with  refer- 
ence to  wisdom  and  the  understanding.  That  every 
man  is  led  by  himself  from  his  own  love,  and  by  others 
according  to  it,  and  not  by  the  understanding,  is  known. 
—  The  term  influx  is  used,  because  it  is  according  to 
established  usage  to  say  that  the  soul  flows  into  the  body, 
and  that  influx  is  spiritual,  and  not  physical :  again,  be- 
cause influx  is  comparatively  like  the  inflowing  of  the 
blood  into  the  heart,  and  from  the  heart  into  the  lungs. — 
12 


134 


THE  SWEDENDORG  LIBRARY. 


But  man  is  taught  by  enlightenment,  because  instruc- 
tion and  enlightenment  are  terms  used  with  reference 
to  the  understanding  ;  for  the  understanding,  which  is 
man's  internal  sight,  can  be  enlightened  by  spiritual 
light  only  as  the  eye,  or  man's  external  sight,  is  enlight- 
ened by  natural  light.  Both  are  also  taught  in  the 
same  way  ;  but  the  internal  sight  (which  is  that  of  the 
understanding)  by  spiritual  objects,  and  the  external 
sight  (which  is  that  of  the  eye)  by  natural  objects. 
There  is  a  spiritual  light,  and  a  natural  light,  both  alike 
in  outward  appearance,  but  internally  unlike;  for  nat- 
ural light  is  from  the  sun  of  the  natural  world,  and  is 
therefore  in  itself  dead ;  but  spiritual  light  is  from  the 
8uu  of  the  spiritual  world,  and  is  therefore  essentially 
alive.  The  latter,  and  not  the  former,  enlightens  the 
human  understanding,  and  is  alone  the  origin  of  nat- 
ural and  rational  illumination.  And  spiritual-natural 
light  is  like  the  light  of  day  in  our  world  ;  it  belongs  to 
those  who  are  in  the  ultimate  heaven,  and  also  to  those 
who  are  in  the  world  of  spirits  which  is  intermediate 
between  heaven  and  hell.  But  in  the  latter  world  this 
light  with  the  good  is  like  that  of  summer  on  earth,  and 
with  the  evil  like  that  of  winter.  It  must  be  known, 
however,  that  liglit  in  the  spiritual  world  has  nothing 
in  common  with  that  of  the  natural  world.  They  differ 
as  the  living  and  the  dead.  Evidently,  therefore,  it  is 
not  natural  light,  such  as  exists  before  our  eyes,  but 
spiritual  light  which  enlightens  the  understanding. 
Man  is  ignorant  of  this,  because  he  has  heretofore 
known  nothing  of  spiritual  light. 


DrFFEIiE.VT  KriXDS  OF  f.KlIir. 


135 


Somctliing  must  also  be  said  of  the  light  of  hell,  none 
of  which  is  natural,  but  spiritual. —  All  in  the  spiritual 
world,  alike  those  in  heaven  and  in  hell,  see  in  their 
own  light  as  clearly  as  man  sees  by  day  in  his  light. 
This  is  because  their  eyesight  is  adjusted  in  all  cases  to 
the  reception  of  the  light  it  has.  Thus  the  eyesight  of 
the  angels  in  heaven  is  adjusted  to  the  reception  of  the 
light  it  has,  and  the  eyesight  of  the  spirits  in  hell  to 
the  reception  of  the  light  it  has  ;  comparatively  as  owls 
and  bats  see  objects  a,t  night  or  in  twilight  as  clearly  as 
other  birds  see  them  in  the  day  —  for  their  eyes  are 
formed  each  for  the  reception  of  its  own  light.  But  the 
distinction  existing  between  these  different  kinds  of 
light,  is  very  obvious  to  those  who  look  at  one  kind  of 
light  from  another ;  as  when  an  angel  of  heaven  looks 
into  hell,  he  sees  nothing  there  but  mere  darkness ;  and 
when  an  infernal  spirit  looks  into  heaven,  he  sees  noth- 
ing there  but  darkness.  This  is  because  heavenly  wis- 
dom is  like  darkness  to  those  in  hell;  and  infernal  folly 
is  like  darkness  to  those  in  heaven.  From  this  it  will 
be  seen  that  a  man's  light  is  according  to  the  character 
of  his  understanding  ;  and  that  after  death  every  man 
enters  his  own  light,  because  he  cannot  see  in  any  other. 
In  the  spiritual  world  where  all  are  spiritual  even  in 
body,  the  eyes  of  all  are  formed  to  see  from  their  own 
liglit.  Every  one's  life's  love  forms  its  own  understand- 
ing, thus  also  its  own  light.  For  love  is  like  the  fire  of 
life,  from  which  comes  the  light  of  life.  —  There  is  au 
enlightenment  both  interior  and  exterior,  which  comes 


136  THE  SWEDENDORG  LIBRARY. 


from  the  Lord  ;  and  an  enlightenment  both  interior  and 
exterior  from  man  also. — 

By  interior  enlightenment  coming  from  the  Lord,  the 
rational  man  perceives  at  first  hearing  whether  certain 
statements  are  true  or  not.  For  example  this:  That 
love  is  the  life  of  faith,  or  that  faith  lives  from  love. 
From  interior  enlightenment  one  perceives  that  what- 
ever a  man  loves  his  will  favors,  and  what  his  will 
favors  he  does,  and  consequently,  that  to  love  is  to  do ; 
and  again,  that  whatever  a  man  believes  from  love,  to 
this  also  he  conforms  his  will  and  conduct,  and  conse- 
quently, that  to  have  faith  is  also  to  do ;  also  that  an 
impious  man  cannot  love  God  nor  have  faith  in  God. 
From  interior  enlightenment  the  rational  man  also  per- 
ceives the  moment  he  hears  the  statements,  that  God  is 
One;  that  He  is  omnipresent;  that  all  good  is  from 
Him  ;  that  all  things  relate  to  the  good  and  true ;  and 
that  the  good  is  derived  wholly  from  the  absolutely 
Good,  and  tlie  true  from  the  absolutely  True.  Of  these 
and  other  similar  statements  man  has  within  him  an 
interior  perception  tlie  moment  he  hears  them  ;  this  is 
because  he  possesses  rationality,  and  this  is  in  the  light 
of  heaven  which  enlightens. 

Exterior  enlightenment  is  that  of  thought  arising  from 
this  interior  enlightenment ;  and  thought  is  so  enlight- 
■  ened,  so  far  as  it  remains  in  the  perception  which  it  de- 
rives from  interior  enlightenment,  and  so  far  as  its 
thoughts  are  at  the  same  time  good  and  true ;  for  from 
these  it  draws  the  reasons  by  which  it  confirms  [its 


MISLEADING  LIGHT. 


137 


perceptions].  Thought  derived  from  this  exterior  en- 
lightenment sees  a  subject  from  both  points  of  view  — 
from  one  sees  the  reasons  which  corroborate,  and  from 
the  other  the  appearances  which  invalidate ;  the  latter 
it  disperses,  the  former  it  collects. 

But  interior  enlightenment  coming  from  man  is  quite 
different.  By  this,  man  sees  a  subject  from  one  point 
of  view  only ;  and  when  he  has  confirmed  it,  he  sees  it 
in  a  light  similar  in  appearance  to  the  light  spoken  of 
above  ;  but  it  is  a  wintry  light.  For  example  :  A  judge 
whose  decisions  are  governed  by  bribes  or  gain,  after 
he  has  confirmed  his  decision  by  law  and  reason,  sees 
nothing  but  justice  in  it.  Some  see  its  injustice;  but 
as  they  do  not  wish  to  see  it,  they  mystify  and  blind 
themselves,  and  so  do  not  see  it.  It  is  the  same  with 
a  judge  whose  decisions  are  governed  by  friendship,  the 
desire  for  popularity,  or  ties  of  relationship.  With  such 
men  it  is  the  same  with  everything  they  acquire  from 
the  mouth  of  a  man  in  authority,  or  of  some  person  of 
great  fame,  or  that  they  have  hatched  from  their  own 
intelligence.  They  are  rationally  blind,  for  they  see 
from  the  falsity  they  confirm ;  and  falsity  closes  the 
sight,  while  truth  opens  it.  Such  persons  see  no  truth 
from  the  light  of  truth,  nor  any  justice  from  the  love 
of  justice,  but  only  from  the  light  of  confirmation,  which 
is  a  delusive  light. —  But  exterior  enlightenment  coming 
from  man,  exists  with  those  who  think  and  talk  from 
mere  knowledge  impressed  upon  the  memory.  This 
class  can  of  themselves  hardly  confirm  anything. 
12* 


138 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LinRAllY. 


Tliese  are  the  distinct  phases  of  enliglitenment,  and 
of  perception  and  thought  therefi'om.  There  is  an 
actual  eulightenment  eiFected  by  spiritual  light ;  but 
the  enlightenment  itself  coming  from  this  source  is  not 
apparent  to  any  one  in  the  natural  world,  because 
natural  light  has  nothing  in  common  with  spiritual. 
But  the  enlightenment  itself  has  sometimes  appeared 
to  me  in  the  spiritual  world.  With  those  whose  eu- 
lightenment proceeded  from  the  Lord,  it  appeared  like 
a  luminousness  about  the  head,  glowing  with  the  color 
of  the  human  face. — 

Besides  these  kinds  of  enlightenment  there  exists 
also  another,  by  which  is  revealed  to  man  the  character 
of  his  faith  and  intelligence,  the  revelation  being  of 
such  a  nature  that  he  himself  has  a  perception  of  it  iu 
himself.  He  is  introduced  into  a  society  where  there 
is  genuine  fiiith,and  true  intelligence  and  wisdom  ;  and 
there  his  interior  rationality  is  opened,  from  which  he 
sees  the  character  of  his  own  faith,  and  his  own  intelli- 
gence and  wisdom,  to  a  full  acknowledgment  of  it. — 

IV. —  Man  is  tcmght  by  the  Lord  through  the  Word, 
and  doctrine  ami  pn  urhiiig  from  it,  thus  immediately  by 
Him  alone. —  Tlic  Lnid  is  the  Word,  and  all  the  doctrine 
of  the  church  is  to  be  drawn  from  the  Word.  Hence 
it  follows  that  the  man  who  is  taught  from  the  Word, 
is  taught  by  the  Lord  alone.  But  as  this  is  not  easily 
understood,  it  shall  be  illustrated  iu  the  following 
order : — 

1st. —  The  Lord  is  the  Word,  because  it  is  from  Him 


THE  LORD  IS  THE  WORD. 


139 


and  treats  of  Him. —  Since  the  Word  is  from  the  Lord, 
iiiul  treats  of  Him  alone,  it  follows  that  when  man  is 
taught  from  the  Word,  he  is  taught  by  the  Lord ;  for 
tlie  Word  is  Divine.  Who  can  communicate  the  Di- 
vine, and  implant  it  in  the  heart,  except  the  Divine 
itself,  from  which  it  is,  and  of  which  it  treats?  There- 
fore the  Lord,  when  speaking  of  his  union  with  the 
disciples,  says  that  they  should  abide  in  Him,  and  his 
words  in  them,  John  xv.  7 ;  that  his  words  are  spirit 
and  life,  John  vi.  63 ;  and  that  He  makes  his  abode 
with  those  who  keep  his  words,  xiv.  20-24.  Therefore 
to  think  from  the  Lord  is  to  think  from  the  Word, 
as  if  through  it.  The  whole  AVord  has  communication 
with  heaven,  as  shown  in  the  New  Church  Doctrine  of 
the  Sacred  Scripture.  And  since  the  Lord  is  heaven, 
the  meaning  is  that  the  whole  Word  has  communication 
with  the  Lord  Himself  The  angels  of  heaven  have 
indeed  communication,  but  this  also  is  from  the  Lord. 

2d.  The  Lord  is  the  Word,  because  it  is  the  Divine 
Truth  of  the  Divine  Good.  That  the  Lord  is  the  Word, 
He  teaches  in  John  i.  1,  14.  Because  this  has  hitherto 
been  understood  to  mean  only  that  the  Lord  taught  man 
through  the  Word,  therefore  this  has  been  explained  as 
a  hyperbolical  expression,  which  implied  that  the  Lord 
wa-s  not  the  Word  itself.  This  is  because  they  did  not 
know  that  the  AVord  means  the  Divine  Truth  of  the 
Divine  Good,  or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  the  Divine 
Wisdom  of  the  Divine  Love.  These  are  the  Lord  Him- 
self.—  How  the  Lord  is  the  Divine  Truth  of  the  Divine 


140 


THE  SWEDENBORO  LIBRARY. 


Good,  shall  also  be  briefly  explained.  Every  man  is 
a  man  not  from  his  form  and  features,  but  from  the 
good  of  his  love  and  the  truth  of  his  wisdom.  And  as 
man  is  man  from  these,  every  one  is  also  his  own  truth 
and  good,  or  his  own  love  and  wisdom.  Apart  from 
these  he  is  not  man.  But  the  Lord  is  the  absolutely 
Good  and  True,  or,  which  is  the  same.  Love  itself  and 
Wisdom  itself;  and  these  are  the  Word,  which  was  in 
the  beginning  with  God,  and  was  God,  and  which  was 
made  flesh. 

3d.  Therefore  to  he  taught  from  the  Word,  is  to  be  taught 
by  the  Lord  Himself,  because  it  is  from  the  absolutely 
Good  and  True,  or  from  Love  itself  and  Wisdom  itself. 
But  every  one  is  taught  according  to  his  own  love's 
understanding.  What  is  beyond  this  is  not  permanent. 
All  who  are  taught  by  the  Lord  in  the  Word  are  in- 
structed in  a  few  truths  in  the  world,  but  in  many  when 
they  become  angels ;  for  the  interior  contents  of  the 
Word,  which  are  of  a  divine-spiritual  and  divine-celes- 
tial character,  are  implanted  simultaneously  [with  this 
external  instruction]  ;  but  they  are  not  opened  in  man 
until  after  his  death,  in  heaven,  where  he  is  in  angelic 
wisdom  which,  compared  to  human  wisdom,  that  is,  to 
his  former  wisdom,  is  ineffable. 

4th.  The  fact  of  its  being  effected  mediately  by  preaching 
does  not  prevent  its  being  immediate.  The  Woi'd  cannot 
be  taught  otherwise  than  mediately  by  parents,  teachers, 
preachers,  books,  and  especially  the  reading  of  it.  Yet 
it  is  not  taught  by  them,  but  by  the  Lord  through  them. 


DIVINE  Ol'ERATIOXS  IN  MAX. 


141 


This  is  also  known  by  preachers,  who  declare  tliat  they 
do  not  speak  from  themselves,  but  from  the  Spirit  of 
God  ;  and  that  all  truth,  like  all  good,  is  from  the 
Lord.  They  may  indeed  speak  the  Word,  and  convey 
it  to  the  understanding  of  many,  but  not  to  the  heart 
of  any ;  and  whatever  has  no  place  in  the  heart  per- 
ishes in  the  understanding.  By  the  heart  is  meant 
man's  love.  From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  man  is  led 
and  taught  by  tiie  Lord  alone,  and  that  it  is  done  im- 
mediately by  Him  when  from  the  Word.  This  is  the 
profoundest  of  all  the  arcana  of  angelic  wisdom. — 

V. — Man  is  led  and  taught  by  the  Lord  in  externals  to 
all  appearance  as  of  himself.  This  takes  place  with  him 
externally,  but  not  internally.  No  one  knows  how  the 
Lord  leads  and  teaches  man  internally,  as  no  one  knows 
how  the  soul  operates  to  cause  the  eye  to  see,  the  ear  to 
hear,  the  tongue  and  mouth  to  speak,  the  heart  to  move 
the  blood,  the  lungs  to  respire,  the  stomach  to  digest, 
the  liver  and  pancreas  to  distribute,  the  kidneys  to 
secrete,  and  countless  other  things ;  of  all  which  man 
has  neither  perception  nor  sensation.  It  is  the  same 
with  the  Lord's  operations,  which  are  infinitely  more 
numerous  in  the  interior  substances  and  forms  of  the 
mind.  His  operations  upon  them  are  not  apparent  to 
man,  but  the  direct  effects  which  are  many,  are  ap- 
parent, and  also  some  of  their  causes.  These  are  the 
externals,  in  which  man  is  together  with  the  Lord  ;  and 
as  externals  make  one  with  internals,  because  they 
cohere  in  one  series,  therefore  there  can  be  no  disposi- 


142 


THE  SWEDENDORG  LIBRARY. 


tion  made  internally  by  the  Lord,  except  in  accordance 
with  what  is  externally  disposed  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  man.  Every  one  knows  that  man  exer- 
cises thought  and  will  and  speaks  and  acts  to  all  ap- 
pearance as  of  himself ;  and  every  one  may  see  that 
without  this  appearance,  he  would  have  no  will  and 
understanding,  therefore  no  affection  and  thought,  and 
moreover,  no  recejition  of  anything  good  and  true  from 
the  Lord.  Such  being  the  case,  it  follows  that  without 
that  appearance  there  would  be  no  knowledge  of  God, 
no  charity  or  faith,  consequently  no  reformation  and 
regeneration,  and  thus  no  salvation.  From  which  it  is 
evident  that  this  appearance  is  given  to  man  by  tlie 
Lord  for  the  sake  of  all  these  uses,  and  especially  to 
give  him  receptivity  and  reciprocality,  by  which  the 
Lord  may  be  united  to  him,  and  he  to  the  Lord,  and 
that  by  this  union  he  may  live  for  ever. 


IX. 

IT  IS  A  LA  W  OF  DIVIDE  PROVIDENCE  THAT  MAN 
SHOULD  II A  VE  NO  SENSE  OF  ITS  OPERATION. 

HE  natural  man  who  does  not  believe  in  a 
Divine  Providence  thinks  to  himself,  What  is 
Divine  Providence,  since  the  wicked  are  raised 
to  honor  and  enriched  beyond  the  good,  and 
in  many  similar  respects  they  who  do  not  believe  in  a 
Divine  Providence  are  more  successful  than  those  who 
do?  Moreover,  the  faithless  and  impious  can  inflict 
injuries,  wrongs,  misfortunes  and  sometimes  death,  upon 
the  faithful  and  the  pious,  and  this  through  deceit  and 
malice.  And  so  he  thinks.  Do  I  not  see  by  actual  ob- 
servation as  in  clear  daylight,  that  wily  machinations, 
provided  a  man  has  the  ingenuity  to  make  them  seem 
trustworthy  and  honest,  prevail  over  fidelity  and  justice? 
"What  then  remains  but  necessity,  consequences  and 
chance,  in  which  there  is  no  appearance  of  a  Divine 
Providence?  Does  not  necessity  belong  to  nature?  and 
are  not  consequences  the  causes  flowing  from  natural  or 
civil  order?  and  is  not  chance  a  result  either  of  un- 
known causes  or  of  no  causes?  So  thinks  to  himself 
the  natural  man  who  attributes  nothing  to  God,  but 
everything  to  nature;  for  he  who  attributes  nothing  to 
God  does  not  attribute  anything  to  the  Divine  Provi- 


144 


THE  SWEVENnORG  LIBRARY. 


dence  either;  for  God  and  the  Divine  Providence  make 
one.  But  the  spiritual  man  speaks  or  thinks  differently 
to  himself.  He,  although  he  does  not  in  thought  per- 
ceive, nor  with  his  eyes  see,  the  movements  of  Divine 
Providence,  yet  he  knows  and  acknowledges  it. 

Now  as  the  above-mentioned  appearances  and  their 
illusions  have  blinded  the  understanding,  which  can 
receive  no  sight  unless  the  illusions  which  blinded  and 
the  falsities  which  darkened  it,  are  dispelled ;  and  as 
this  cannot  be  done  unless  by  truths  which  contain  the 
power  to  dispel  what  is  false,  therefore  these  truths 
must  be  disclosed,  —  and,  for  the  sake  of  clearness,  in 
the  following  order :  — 

h—If  man  had  a  perception  aiid  sense  of  the  operation 
of  Divine  Providence,  he  would  not  act  from  freedom  ac- 
cording to  reason,  nor  would  anything  seem  to  him  to  be 
from  himself.  It  would  be  the  same  if  he  foreknexv  events. 
—  Man  would  have  no  freedom  of  action  according  to 
reason,  and  nothing  would  seem  to  him  to  be  from  him- 
self, if  he  had  a  perception  and  sense  of  the  operation 
of  the  Divine  Providence.  For  if  he  had  a  perception 
and  sense  of  it,  he  would  still  be  led  by  it ;  for  the  Lord 
by  his  Divine  Providence  leads  all,  and  man  only  seems 
to  lead  himself,  as  shown  above.  Wherefore  if  he  were 
led,  with  a  living  perception  and  sense  of  the  fact,  he 
would  not  be  conscious  of  life ;  and  then  he  would  be 
moved  to  utterance  and  action  almost  like  a  piece  of 
mechanism.  If  he  were  still  conscious  of  life,  then  he 
would  only  be  led  like  a  man  bound  hand  and  foot,  or 
like  a  beast  before  a  cart. — 


WISDOM  AND  LOVE  IN  DENIALS. 


145 


Tlie  operation  of  the  Divine  Providence  to  withdraw 
man  from  evil  is  constant.  If  any  one  had  a  percep- 
tion and  sense  of  this  operation,  and  yet  were  not  led 
as  one  bound,  would  he  not  continually  struggle  against 
it,  and  then  either  strive  with  God,  or  mingle  himself 
with  the  Divine  Providence?  If  the  latter,  he  would 
also  make  himself  God  ;  if  the  former,  he  would  release 
himself  from  restraint  and  deny  God.  This  is  very 
evident,  that  there  would  then  be  two  powers  continu- 
ally acting  against  each  other,  the  power  of  evil  from 
man,  and  the  power  of  good  from  God  ;  and  when  two 
opposite  powers  act  against  each  other,  either  one  con- 
quers, or  both  are  destroyed.  But  in  this  case,  if  one 
conquers  both  are  destroyed ;  for  the  evil  in  man  does 
not  receive  good  from  the  Lord  in  a  moment,  nor  does 
the  good  from  the  Lord  expel  evil  from  man  in  a 
moment;  if  either  were  done  instantaneously,  there 
would  be  no  life  left  in  man.  These  and  many  other 
destructive  results  would  ensue,  if  man  had  a  manifest 
perception  and  sense  of  the  operation  of  the  Divine 
Providence. 

A  foreknowledge  of  events  is  denied  to  man,  for  the 
sake  of  rendering  him  capable  of  acting  from  freedom 
according  to  reason. —  For  if  he  knew  the  effect  or 
event  from  a  Divine  prediction  of  it,  his  reason  would 
acquiesce,  and  with  it  his  love;  for  love  togetluT  with 
reason  rests  in  the  effect,  and  from  it  begins  aiu  w.  It 
is  the  very  delight  of  reason  from  love  to  nee  the  elK  ct 
in  thought,  not  in  the  effect  but  before  it,  or  not  iu  the 
13  K 


146 


THE  SWEDENDORG  LTBHARY. 


present  but  in  tlie  future.  Hence  what  is  called  hope 
in  man,  which  increases  and  diminishes  in  the  reason 
as  he  sees  or  anticipates  the  event.  This  delight  is 
complete  in  the  event,  but  is  thereafter  obliterated 
together  with  the  thought  of  it.  It  would  be  the  same 
with  an  event  foreknown. 

Since  a  knowledge  of  future  events  takes  away  the 
truly  human  element,  which  is  to  act  freely  according 
to  reason,  therefore  a  knowledge  of  the  future  is  given  to 
no  man  ;  but  every  one  is  at  liberty  to  form  conclusions 
about  the  future  from  reason.  Herein  is  reason  with 
all  its  faculties  in  its  proper  life.  For  this  reason  man 
does  not  know  his  lot  after  death,  or  any  event  before 
he  comes  upon  it.  For  if  he  knew,  he  would  no  longer 
from  his  interior  self  study  how  to  act  or  live  so  as  to 
reach  it,  but  from  his  exterior  self  only  would  think 
that  he  would  reach  it;  and  this  state  closes  the  inte- 
riors of  his  mind,  in  which  the  two  faculties  of  his  life, 
liberty  and  rationality,  have  their  special  abode.  A 
desire  to  know  the  future  is  innate  with  many,  but  it 
originates  in  the  love  of  evil.  It  is  therefore  taken  from 
those  who  believe  in  a  Divine  Providence,  and  they  are 
gifted  with  the  confidence  that  the  Lord  appoints  their 
lot;  consequently  they  do  not  desire  a  foreknowledge 
of  it,  lest  they  should  in  some  manner  oppose  the  Di- 
vine Providence.  This  the  Lord  teaches  by  several 
parables  in  Luke  xii.  14-48.  That  this  is  a  law  of  the 
Divine  Providence  may  be  abundantly  confirmed  from 
the  spiritual  world.    The  greater  number  when  they 


EXTERXALS  AXD  INTERXALS. 


147 


go  there,  after  death,  wish  to  know  their  lot ;  but  tliey 
are  told  that  if  they  have  lived  well  their  lot  will  be 
iu  heaven,  but  if  they  have  lived  wickedly,  in  hell.  Yet 
as  all  fear  hell,  even  the  wicked,  they  ask  what  they 
shall  do  and  believe  so  as  to  go  to  heaven.  But  they 
are  told  that  they  may  act  and  believe  as  they  wish, 
while  they  may  be  sure  that  in  hell  they  do  not  do 
good  nor  believe  truth,  but  in  heaven.  Study  to  know 
what  is  good  and  true,  and  think  and  act  accordingly 
if  you  can. 

Thus  every  one  is  left  to  act  from  freedom  according 
to  reason  in  the  spiritual  world  as  in  the  natural.  But 
as  they  have  acted  in  this  world,  so  do  they  in  that ; 
for  every  man's  own  life  awaits  him,  consequently  his 
own  lot,  for  this  belongs  to  his  life. 

II. — Ij  man  clearly  saw  the  Divine  Providence  heivould 
oppose  the  order  and  tenor  of  its  course,  and  would  pervert 
and  destroy  it.  To  make  this  clearly  comprehensible  to 
the  rational  and  natural  man,  it  must  be  illustrated  by 
examples :  — 

1st.  Externals  are  so  connected  ivith  internals,  that  in 
all  their  operations  they  make  one.  As  an  illustration  of 
this  by  examples,  take  certain  parts  of  the  human  body. 
In  the  whole  body  and  in  every  part  there  are  exter- 
nals and  internals.  The  externals  are  called  skin, 
membranes  and  sheaths ;  the  internals  are  forms  vari- 
ously composed  and  interwoven  of  nervous  fibres  and 
blood-vessels ;  the  sheath  which  surrounds  them,  by  out- 
growths from  itself,  enters  into  all  the  interiors  to  the 


148  THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


very  inmost.  Thus  the  external  which  is  the  sheath, 
is  united  to  all  the  internals,  which  are  the  organic 
fibrous  and  vascular  forms.  Fi-om  which  it  follows, 
that,  as  the  external  acts  or  is  acted  upon,  so  also 
do  the  internals  act  or  are  acted  upon,  for  they  are 
all  perpetually  interwoven. 

That  the  same  order  prevails  in  spiritual  forms,  and 
in  their  changes  of  state  and  variations  which  relate  to 
the  operations  of  the  will  and  understanding,  as  in  nat- 
ural forms  and  their  operations  which  relate  to  motion 
and  action,  will  be  seen  below.  Now  as  man  is  together 
■with  the  Lord  in  certain  external  operations,  and  no  one 
is  deprived  of  freedom  of  action  according  to  reason,  it 
follows  that  the  Lord  cannot  act  in  internals  otherwise 
than  as  He  acts  together  with  man  in  externals.  There- 
fore, if  man  does  not  shun  and  turn  away  from  evils  as 
sins,  his  external  thought  and  will  become  vitiated  and 
destroyed,  and  their  internals  at  tlie  same  time,  com- 
paratively as  the  pleura  by  the  disease  called  pleurisy, 
which  causes  the  death  of  the  body. 

2d.  If  man  were  at  the  same  time  in  internals,  he  would 
pervert  and  destroy  the  whole  order  and  tenor  of  the  Divine 
Providence.  This  may  also  be  illustrated  by  examples 
drawn  from  the  human  body.  If  man  knew  all  the 
operations  of  both  brains  in  the  fibres,  of  the  fibres  in 
the  muscles,  and  of  the  muscles  in  action,  and  could 
dispose  of  them  all  as  he  disposes  of  his  actions,  would 
he  not  pervert  and  destroy  them  all  ?  Did  he  know 
how  the  stomach  digests ;  how  the  surrounding  viscera 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


149 


draws  each  its  portion  ;  how  they  elaborate  the  blood, 
and  distribute  it  according  to  every  requirement  of 
lite ;  and  these  operations  were  at  his  disposal  as  ex- 
ternals, such  as  eating  and  drinking  are ;  would  he  not 
pervert  and  destroy  them  all  ?  When  he  cannot  govern 
the  external  which  seems  like  a  unit,  without  destroying 
it  by  luxury  and  intemperance,  what  would  he  do  if  the 
internals  also,  which  are  infinite,  were  at  his  disposal  ? 
Therefore  the  internals,  lest  man's  will  should  in  any 
way  enter  into  them  and  get  control  of  them,  are  alto- 
gether exempt  from  his  will,  except  the  muscles  which 
constitute  their  covering.  Moreover,  even  their  mode 
of  action  is  unknown ;  the  fact  only  is  known.  It  is  the 
same  in  the  other  organs. —  Man  is  known  to  be  in  ex- 
ternals ;  as  that  he  sees  with  the  eye,  beat's  with  the  ear, 
tastes  with  the  tongue,  feels  with  the  skin,  breathes  with 
the  lungs,  and  so  on.  Is  it  not  enough  for  him  to  know 
of  these  externals,  and  to  govern  them  for  the  health  of 
body  and  mind?  Since  he  cannot  do  this,  what  would 
be  the  result  if  internals  were  at  his  disposal  also? 
From  all  of  which  it  will  appear,  that  if  man  clearly 
saw  the  Divine  Providence,  he  would  oppose  the  order 
and  tenor  of  its  progress,  and  would  pervert  and  de- 
stroy it. 

It  is  the  same  in  the  spiritual  constituents  of  the  mind 
as  in  the  natural  constituents  of  the  body ;  for  the  whole 
mind  corresponds  to  the  whole  body.  Therefore  also 
the  mind  actuates  the  body  in  externals,  and  in  general 
at  its  perfect  will ;  it  actuates  the  eye  to  see,  the  ear  to 
13* 


150 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LTBRART. 


hear,  the  mouth  and  tongue  to  eat  and  drink,  and  to 
speak  also,  the  hands  to  work,  and  the  feet  to  walk. 
What  has  been  said,  therefore,  of  the  natural  forms  of 
the  body,  must  also  be  said  of  the  mind's  spiritual  forms; 
and  what  has  been  said  of  the  body's  natural  operations 
must  also  be  said  of  the  mind's  spiritual  operations. 
Consequently,  as  man  disposes  externals,  the  Lord  dis- 
poses internals;  thus  in  one  way  if  man  disposes  exter- 
nals from  himself,  and  in  another  way  if  he  disposes  them 
from  the  Lord,  and  at  the  same  time  as  if  from  himself 
Man's  mind  is  moreover  in  full  form  a  man ;  for  it  is 
his  spirit,  which  after  death  appears  as  a  man,  precisely 
as  in  the  world  ;  there  are  therefore  similar  things  in 
each.  Therefore  what  has  been  said  of  the  union  of 
externals  and  internals  in  the  body,  must  also  be  un- 
derstood of  the  union  of  externals  and  internals  in  the 
mind,  with  the  sole  difference  that  one  is  spiritual  and 
the  other  natural. 

III.  —  IJ  man  clearly  saw  the  Divine  Providence,  he 
would  either  deny  God,  or  make  himself  God. —  It  must  be 
supposed  either  that  God  governs  all  things,  or  nature. 
He  who  thinks  that  God  governs  all  things,  thinks  that 
love  itself  and  wisdom  itself,  therefore  life  itself,  does  so. 
But  he  who  thinks  that  nature  governs  all  things,  thinks 
it  is  done  by  natural  heat  and  light,  which  are  never- 
theless in  themselves  dead,  because  fi'om  a  sun  that  is 
dead.  Does  not  the  truly  living  govern  the  dead  ?  Can 
what  is  dead  govern  anything?  If  you  think  that  what 
is  dead  can  give  life  to  itself,  you  arc  insane.  Life  must 
be  from  Life. 


HEREDITARY  EVIL.  151 

That  man,  if  he  clearly  saw  the  Divine  Providence 
and  its  operation,  would  deny  God,  does  not  appear 
probable,  because  it  seems  that  if  any  one  clearly  saw 
it,  he  could  not  avoid  the  acknowledgment  of  it,  and 
tlierefore  of  God ;  yet  the  contrary  is  the  fact.  The 
Divine  Providence  never  acts  with  the  will's  love  in 
man,  but  constantly  against  it ;  for  man  from  his  hered- 
itary evil  pants  continually  for  the  lowest  hell ;  but  the 
Lord  by  his  Divine  Providence  continually  withholds 
and  withdraws  him  from  it,  first  to  a"  milder  hell,  then 
out  of  hell,  and  finally  to  Himself  in  heaven.  This 
operation  of  the  Divine  Providence  is  perpetual. 
Therefore  if  man  clearly  saw  or  felt  this  withdrawal 
or  withholding,  he  would  be  exasperated,  would  regard 
God  as  his  enemy,  and  from  the  evil  of  his  selfhood 
would  deuy  Him.  And  therefore,  lest  man  should 
know  this,  he  is  kept  in  a  state  of  freedom,  whereby  he 
knows  not  but  that  he  leads  himself.  But  let  examples 
illustrate :  — 

Man  has  a  hereditary  desire  to  become  great,  also  to 
get  rich  ;  and  so  far  as  such  loves  are  unrestrained,  to 
become  greater  and  richer,  and  finally  to  be  the  greatest 
and  the  richest  of  all.  Nor  would  he  rest  here,  but 
would  wish  to  be  greater  than  God  Himself,  and  to 
possess  the  very  heavens.  This  lust  lies  deeply  hidden 
in  hereditary  evil,  and  consequently  in  man's  life  and 
in  the  nature  of  his  life.  The  Divine  Providence  does 
not  take  away  this  evil  instantaneoii.<ly,  for  if  it  did,  man 
would  not  live ;  but  it  is  removed  so  quietly  and  gradu- 


152 


THE  SM'EDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


ally  that  be  knows  nothing  of  the  process.  This  is 
effected  by  permitting  man  to  act  according  to  the 
mode  of  thought  which  his  reason  sanctions ;  and  then 
by  various  means,  rational  and  civil  and  moral,  with- 
holding him  ;  and  so  far  as  it  can  be  done  in  freedom, 
he  is  withheld.  Nor  can  any  evil  be  taken  away  un- 
less it  appears,  is  seen  and  acknowledged.  It  is  like  a 
wound  which  does  not  heal  unless  it  is  opened.  And 
thus,  if  man  knew  and  saw  that  the  Lord  by  bis  Divine 
Providence  so  operated  against  his  life's  love,  which  is 
the  source  of  bis  highest  delight,  be  could  not  avoid 
opposition,  rage,  strife,  bard  words,  and  finally,  from 
his  native  evil,  a  removal  of  the  operation  of  the  Di- 
vine Providence  by  a  denial  of  it,  and  thus  of  God  ; 
especially  if  be  saw  it  in  the  way  of  liis  success,  saw 
himself  fallen  from  honor  and  stripped  of  wealth. 

But  it  is  to  be  known  that  the  Lord  never  withholds 
man  from  seeking  honor  or  acquiring  wealth,  but  only 
from  the  lust  of  seeking  honor  for  tlie  sake  of  mere 
eminence  or  for  the  sake  of  self,  and  from  acquiring 
wealth  for  tlie  mere  sake  of  opulence  or  riches.  But 
when  He  withholds  man  from  these,  He  introduces  bira 
into  the  love  of  usefnluess,  so  that  he  may  regard  emi- 
nence not  for  his  own  sake,  but  for  the  sake  of  its  use, 
that  is,  that  it  may  be  a  matter  of  usefijlness  first,  and 
of  self  next  —  not  of  self  first,  and  usefulness  next; 
so  also  of  wealth. 

It  is  the  same  with  any  evil  to  which  man  is  heredi- 
tarily attached,  as  with  adultery,  fraud,  revenge,  bias- 


INTERNALS  LAID  OPEN. 


153 


pheray  and  other  such,  none  of  which  can  be  removed 
unless  man  is  allowed  freedom  of  thought  and  will 
with  reference  to  them,  and  so  removes  them  of  him- 
self ;  which,  nevertheless,  he  cannot  do  unless  he  ac- 
knowledges the  Divine  Providence,  and  implores  its 
accomplishment  thereby. — 

The  truth  of  this  cannot  be  better  learned  than  from 
the  states  of  men  after  death  in  the  spiritual  world. 
There  the  greater  number  who  had  become  great  and 
wealthy  in  the  natural  world,  and  in  their  honors  and 
wealth  had  regarded  self  only,  at  first  talk  about  God 
and  the  Divine  Providence  as  if  they  had  heartily  ac- 
knowledged them.  But  as  they  then  clearly  see  the 
Divine  Providence,  and  from  it  their  final  lot,  which 
is  to  go  to  hell,  they  unite  with  the  devils  there,  and 
then  not  only  deny  but  also  blaspheme  God.  Then 
such  madness  comes  upon  them  that  they  acknowledge 
the  more  powerful  devils  as  their  gods,  and  desire  nothing 
more  ardently  than  to  become  gods  themselves. 

Man  would  i-un  counter  to  God,  and  moreover  deny 
Him,  if  he  clearly  saw  the  operations  of  his  Divine 
Providence,  because  he  is  in  the  delight  of  self  love, 
and  this  delight  constitutes  his  very  life.  Therefore, 
while  man  is  kept  in  the  delight  of  his  life,  he  is  in  his 
proper  freedom,  for  freedom  and  this  delight  make  one. 
And  so  if  he  felt  himself  continually  withheld  from 
his  own  delight,  he  would  be  exasperated  as  against 
one  who  desired  to  destroy  his  life,  and  would  regard 
him  as  an  enemy.    To  prevent  this,  the  Lord  in  his 


154 


THE  SWEDENIIOIIG  L/liJlAHY. 


Divine  Providence  does  not  manifestly  appear,  but 
leads  man  thus  quietly  as  a  hidden  current  bears  a 
vessel. — 

IV. — It  is  granted  man  to  see  the  back  of  the  Divine 
Providence,  but  not  the  face ;  also  to  see  it  in  a  spiritual 
but  not  in  his  natural  state.  To  see  the  back  of  the  Di- 
vine Providence  but  not  the  face,  is  to  see  it  in  the  past 
t)ut  not  in  the  future  ;  and  to  see  it  from  a  spiritual  but 
not  from  a  natural  state,  is  to  see  it  from  heaven  but  not 
from  the  world.  All  who  receive  influx  from  heaven 
and  acknowledge  the  Divine  Providence,  and  especially 
they  who  by  regeneration  have  become  spiritual,  when 
they  see  events  in  some  wonderful  series,  from  an  inte- 
I'ior  acknowledgment,  as  it  were,  see  and  confess  the 
Divine  Providence.  Such  do  not  desire  to  see  its  face, 
that  is,  to  see  it  before  it  is  accomplished ;  for  they  are 
afraid  their  will  might  trespass  somewhat  upon  its  order 
and  tenor. 

With  those  who  admit  no  influx  from  heaven,  but 
only  from  the  world,  it  is  otherwise ;  especially  with 
those  who  by  confirming  appearances  in  themselves  have 
become  natural  ;  these  see  nothing  of  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence in  the  back,  or  in  the  past,  but  desire  to  see  it  in 
the  face,  or  before  it  is  accomplished.  And  as  the  Di- 
vine Providence  operates  by  means,  and  the  means  are 
furnished  through  man  or  through  the  world,  therefore, 
whether  they  see  its  face  or  its  back,  they  attribute  it 
either  to  man  or  to  nature,  and  so  confirm  themselves 
in  the  denial  of  it.    This  they  do,  because  their  under- 


SEEryo  I'liovJDEXCE  IS  EVEnYTiiixa.  155 


standing  is  closed  from  above,  and  open  only  from 
beneath  —  that  is,  closed  towards  heaven,  and  open 
towards  the  world.  And  to  see  the  Divine  Providence 
from  the  world  is  not  possible,  but  it  may  be  seen  from 
heaven. — 

The  man  who  has  become  spiritual  by  an  acknowl- 
edgment of  God,  and  wise  by  a  rejection  of  the  selfhood, 
sees  the  Divine  Providence  in  the  whole  world  and  in 
everything  therein.  If  he  looks  at  natural  things,  he 
sees  it ;  if  he  looks  at  civil  affairs,  he  sees  it ;  if  he  looks 
at  spiritual  matters,  he  sees  it ;  and  this  alike  in  the 
simultaneous  and  successive  order  of  things,  in  ends, 
causes,  effects,  uses,  forms, —  alike  in  things  great  and 
small.  Especially  does  he  see  it  in  the  salvation  of 
men,  in  the  fact  that  Jehovah  gave  them  the  Word, 
by  which  He  taught  them  of  God,  of  heaven  and  hell, 
of  life  eternal ;  and  that  He  came  Himself  into  the 
world  to  redeem  and  save  men.  This  and  more  (and 
in  it  all,  the  Divine  Providence)  man  sees  from  spir- 
itual in  natural  light.  But  the  merely  natural  man 
sees  nothing  in  it.  He  is  like  a  man  who,  seeing  a 
magnificent  temple,  and  hearing  a  preacher  enlight- 
ened in  divinity,  relates  at  home  that  he  saw  only  a 
stone  building,  and  heard  nothing  but  an  articulate 
sound ;  or  like  a  near-sighted  person  who  visits  a 
garden  filled  with  fruits  of  all  kinds,  then  returns 
home  and  tells  that  he  has  seen  a  forest  and  trees. 
(D.  P.,  n.  175-189.) 


MAN'S  OWN  PRUDENCE  IS  NOTHING;  BUT  THE 
DIVINE  PROVIDENCE,  SINCE  IT  IS  IN  THE 
LEAST  PARTICULARS,  IS  UNIVERSAL. 

mail's  own  prudence  is  nothing,  is  wholly 
rary  to  the  appearance,  and  therefore  con- 
i-y  to  general  belief ;  and  for  this  reason  no 
one,  judging  fi-om  the  appearance  that  human 
prudence  controls  everything,  can  be  convinced  [of  the 
contrary]  unless  by  reasons  drawn  from  deeper  inves- 
tigation, which  reasons  must  be  chosen  from  [the  realm 
of]  causes. —  Now  the  truth  must  be  either  as  the  church 
teaches,  that  all  wisdom  and  prudence  are  from  God, 
or  as  the  world  teaches,  that  they  are  all  from  man. 
Can  they  be  reconciled,  unless  what  the  church  teaches 
is  true,  and  what  the  world  teaches  is  the  appearance? 
For  the  church  draws  its  proofs  from  the  Word,  and 
the  world  from  the  selfhood ;  and  the  AVord  is  from 
God,  while  the  selfhood  is  from  man.  Inasmuch  as 
prudence  comes  from  God  and  not  from  man,  the 
Christian  at  his  devotions  prays  to  God  to  direct  his 
thoughts,  counsels  and  actions,  adding  also,  because  he 
cannot  do  so  of  himself.  Moreover,  when  he  sees  any 
one  doing  good,  he  says  that  he  is  led  to  it  by  God  ; 

166 


THOUGHT  IS  FROM  AFFECTIOX. 


157 


and  many  such  things.  Can  any  one  so  speak  unless 
he  then  interiorly  believes  it?  and  the  interior  belief 
of  it  is  from  heaven.  But  when  he  thinks  within  him- 
self, and  collects  arguments  in  favor  of  human  pru- 
dence, he  is  capable  of  the  contrary  belief,  and  this  is 
from  the  world.  But  internal  faith  conquers  with 
those  who  in  heart  acknowledge  God,  and  external  faith 
with  those  who  do  not  acknowledge  Him  in  heart,  how- 
ever they  may  do  so  with  the  lips. 

I. —  All  of  man's  thoughts  are  from  the  affections  of 
his  life's  love;  and  there  are  no  thoughts  whatever,  nor 
can  there  be,  apart  from  them. —  The  heart  and  lungs  in 
the  body,  correspond  to  man's  will  and  understanding. 
And  as  the  motion  of  the  heart,  together  with  the  res- 
piration of  the  lungs,  governs  the  whole  man  bodily,  so 
does  the  will  together  with  the  understanding,  govern 
tlie  whole  man  mentally ;  and  thus  the  first  two  prin- 
ciples of  life,  one  natural  and  the  other  spiritual,  exist 
in  every  man, —  the  first  natural  principle  of  life  being 
the  heart's  motion,  and  the  first  spiritual  principle  the 
mind's  will  ;  and  each  takes  to  itself  a  consort,  with 
which  it  cohabits  and  with  which  it  performs  the  func- 
tions of  life,  the  heart  uniting  to  itself  the  lungs,  and 
the  will  uniting  to  itself  the  understanding.  Now  as 
the  soul  of  the  will  is  love,  and  the  soul  of  the  under- 
standing is  wisdom,  both  from  the  Lord,  it  follows  that 
love  is  every  one's  life,  and  is  life  of  a  character  deter- 
mined by  its  union  with  wisdom  ;  or,  which  is  the  same 
thiug,  that  the  will  is  every  one's  life,  and  is  life  of  a 
14 


158 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


character  determiued  by  its  union  with  the  understand- 
ing.— 

As  the  life's  love  has  its  own  delight,  and  the  wisdom 
of  it  has  its  own  pleasure,  in  like  manner  every  affection, 
which  is  essentially  a  subordinate  love  derived  from  the 
life's  love,  as  a  stream  from  its  fountain,  or  a  branch 
from  a  tree,  or  an  artery  from  the  heart ;  therefore 
every  particular  affection  has  its  own  delight,  and,  con- 
sequently, every  perception  and  thought  has  its  own 
pleasure.  It  therefore  follows,  that  delights  and  pleas- 
ures constitute  man's  life.  —  The  delight  of  every  one's 
affection  is  to  him  the  good,  and  the  consequent  pleasure 
of  his  thought  is  to  him  the  true.  These  two — delight 
and  pleasure  —  are  spiritual  in  the  mind,  but  natural  in 
the  body.  They  constitute  man's  life  in  both.  From 
this  it  is  plain  what  it  is  in  man  that  is  called  the  good, 
and  what  it  is  that  is  called  the  true ;  also  what  it  is  that 
is  called  evil,  and  what  that  is  called  false, —  that  being 
evil  to  him  which  destroys  the  delight  of  his  affection, 
and  that  false  which  destroys  the  consequent  pleasure 
of  his  thought ;  the  evil  and  false  also  being  capable, 
from  their  delight  and  pleasure,  of  being  called  and 
believed  good  and  true. — 

The  impossibility  of  any  thought  existing  without 
affection  is  manifest  from  spirits  and  angels  in  the  spir- 
itual world,  inasmuch  as  all  there  think  from  the  affec- 
tions of  their  life's  love,  and  the  delight  of  these  affec- 
tions encompasses  every  one  as  his  atmosphere;  and  all 
are  there  united  according  to  these  spheres  exhaled  from 


nV.UAX  PRUDEXCE  FROM  OOD.  159 


their  affections  through  the  thoughts.  The  character 
of  every  oue,  moreover,  is  known  from  the  sphere  of 
his  life. — 

II. —  The  affections  of  a  man's  life's  love  are  hioivn  to 
the  Lord  alone.  Man  knows  his  own  thoughts  and  their 
intentions,  because  he  sees  them  in  himself ;  and  all  his 
prudence  being  from  them,  he  sees  that  in  himself  also. 
If,  then,  his  life's  love  is  self-love,  he  becomes  proud  of 
his  own  intelligence,  and  attributes  prudence  to  himself; 
and  he  collects  arguments  in  its  favor,  and  so  withdraws 
from  an  acknowledgment  of  the  Divine  Providence. 
The  same  takes  place  if  his  life's  love  is  love  of  the 
world ;  yet  this  does  not  withdraw  so  for.  Evidently, 
therefore,  these  two  loves  ascribe  everything  to  man  and 
his  prudence,  and,  if  interiorly  examined,  nothing  to 
God  and  his  Providence.  Therefore  when  they  happen 
to  hear  that  the  truth  is  that  human  prudence  is 
nothing,  but  that  it  is  the  Divine  Providence  only 
which  governs  all  things,  if  thorough  atheists  they 
laugh  at  it.  But  if  tliey  still  retain  something  of  re- 
ligion in  the  memory,  and  are  told  that  all  wisdom  is 
from  God,  at  the  first  hearing  they  assent,  but  yet  inte- 
riorly in  spirit  deny  it.  Such  is  especially  the  character 
of  priests  who  love  themselves  more  than  God,  and  the 
world  more  than  heaven  ;  or,  what  is  the  same,  who 
worship  God  for  the  sake  of  honor  or  gain,  and  still 
preach  that  charity  and  fi\ith,  everything  good  and  true, 
all  wisdom,  and  even  prudence,  are  from  God,  and 
nothing  at  all  from  man. — 


160 


THE  SWEDENIiORG  LIBRARY. 


Since  man  knows  nothing  of  the  movements  taking 
place  in  the  interiors  of  liis  mind,  which  are  infinite  be- 
yond the  reach  of  numerical  computation,  and  yet  the 
few  externals  which  come  within  the  view  of  thought, 
are  produced  from  these  interiors,  while  the  latter  are 
governed  by  the  Lord  alone  by  his  Divine  Providence, 
and  these  few  externals  together  with  man ;  how  can 
any  one  say  that  his  own  prudence  controls  all  things? 
If  you  should  see  but  one  idea  in  thought  laid  open,  you 
would  see  more  stupendous  things  than  tongue  can  ex- 
press. The  existence  of  things  infinite,  beyond  the  reach 
of  numerical  computation,  in  the  mind's  interiors,  is 
evident  from  the  infinite  things  in  the  body,  of  which 
nothing  makes  itself  seen  or  felt  beyond  mere  action  in 
a  very  simple  manner ;  in  which  action,  nevertheless, 
thousands  of  motive  or  muscular  fibres  concur,  thousands 
of  nervous  fibres,  thousands  of  blood-vessels,  thousands 
of  lung-cells,  which  must  co-operate  in  every  action, 
thousands  of  things  in  the  brain  and  spinal  cord,  and 
many  more  yet  in  the  spiritual  man  which  is  the  human 
mind,  whose  whole  structure  consists  of  forms  of  affec- 
tions and  their  perceptions  and  thoughts.  Does  not  the 
soul,  which  disposes  interiors,  also  dispose  the  actions 
which  flow  from  them?  Man's  soul  is  no  other  than  his 
will's  love,  and  the  consequent  love  belonging  to  his  un- 
derstanding. The  character  of  this  love  is  that  of  the 
whole  man,  and  this  is  determined  by  the  disposition  of 
externals,  in  which  man  is  together  with  the  Lord.  There- 
fore if  he  attributes  all  things  to  nature,  the  love  of  self 


UXIVEUSALITY  OF  /'A'OVfVEXCE. 


IGl 


becomes  his  soul ;  wliile  if  he  attributes  all  things  to 
the  Lord,  the  love  of  the  Lord  becomes  his  soul.  The 
latter  love  is  celestial,  and  the  former  infernal. 

Kow  as  the  delights  of  man's  aftectious,  flowing  from 
inmosts  through  interiors  to  exteriors,  and  Anally  to 
outermosts  which  are  in  the  body,  bear  man  along  as 
a  current  or  a  breeze  carries  a  vessel,  and  nothing  of 
tliem  appeai-s  to  man  except  what  reaches  the  outer- 
mosts of  the  mind  and  of  tiie  body,  how  can  he  claim 
as  his  own  the  Divine,  from  the  mere  fact  that  these 
few  outermosts  seem  to  him  to  be  his  own.  Still  less 
ought  he  to  claim  the  Divine  as  his  own,  when  he  knows 
from  the  Word,  that  a  man  can  receive  nothing  unless 
it  be  given  him  from  heaven  ;  and  from  reason,  that 
this  appearance  is  given  him  in  order  that  he  may  live 
as  a  man,  may  see  what  is  good  and  what  is  evil,  may 
choose  either,  may  appropriate  his  choice,  so  as  to  be 
capable  of  a  reciprocal  union  with  the  Lord,  of  refor- 
mation, regeneration,  salvation  and  eternal  life? 

III. —  The  Lord  by  his  Divine  Providence  arranges 
the  affections  of  the  whole  human  race  in  one  form,  which 
is  the  human.  They  who.  ascribe  all  things  to  nature 
also  ascribe  [the  control  of]  all  things  to  human  pru- 
dence. For  they  who  ascribe  all  things  to  nature,  iu 
heart  deny  God  ;  and  they  who  ascribe  [the  control  of] 
all  things  to  human  prudence,  iu  heart  deny  the  Divine 
Providence ;  the  two  things  are  inseparable.  Yet  both 
classes,  for  the  sake  of  their  good  name  and  for  fear  of 
losing  it,  admit  iu  words  that  the  Divine  Providence  is 
14*  L 


162 


THE  SWEDENliORG  LIDHAUY. 


universal,  ami  that  the  particulars  of  it  rest  with  man, 
tliese  particulars  iu  the  sura  beiug  meant  by  human 
prudence.  But  reflect  within  yourself  what  a  universal 
Providence  is  apart  from  particulars.  Is  it  anything 
more  than  a  mere  term?  For  that  is  called  universal 
which  arises  from  all  the  particulars  at  once,  as  that  is 
called  the  common  body  which  consists  of  all  the  parts. 
If,  therefore,  you  leave  out  the  particulars,  what  is  the 
universal  but  like  something  inwardly  vacuous,  that 
is,  like  a  surface  with  no  inside,  or  a  complex  contain- 
ing nothing?  If  the  Divine  Providence  is  said  to  be  a 
universal  government,  yet  that  no  particular  thing  is 
governed,  but  only  held  in  [the  general]  connection,  aud 
that  the  work  of  governing  is  conducted  by  others,  can 
this  be  called  a  universal  government?  No  king  so 
administers  his  government ;  for  if  any  king  should 
allow  his  subjects  to  govei'u  in  all  the  affairs  of  his 
kingdom,  he  would  no  longer  be  a  king,  but  iu  name 
only.  He  would  thus  have  a  royal  dignity  in  name, 
and  none  whatever  in  fact.  Government  cannot  be 
said  to  belong  to  such  a  king,  much  less  universal 
govenuuent.  Providence  iu  God  is  called  prudence  in 
man  ;  as  universal  prudence  cannot  be  said  to  belong 
to  a  king,  who  has  reserved  to  himself  no  more  than 
the  name  in  order  that  his  kingdom  may  be  called  a 
kingdom,  and  may  so  be  kept  together;  neither  can 
we  use  the  term  universal  Providence  if  men  by  their 
own  prudence  provide  all  things.  It  is  the  same  with 
the  name  of  universal  Providence  as  of  universal  gov- 


PliOVWESCE  hV  THE  LEAST  THINGS.  163 


ernment,  when  it  is  applied  to  nature,  with  tlie  uiuler- 
staiiding  tliat  God  created  the  universe,  and  iinphmted 
in  nature  the  power  to  produce  all  things  of  herself. 
In  this  case,  what  is  universal  Providence  but  a  meta- 
physical term  which,  except  as  a  term,  possesses  no 
reality  ?  iftoreover,  there  are  among  those  who  attri- 
bute everything  that  is  produced  to  nature,  and  all  that 
takes  place  [in  human  affairs]  to  human  prudence,  and 
yet  say  with  the  li])S  that  God  created  nature,  many 
who  never  think  of  the  Divine  Providence  except  as 
an  unmeaning  word.  But  in  reality  the  Divine  Provl 
dence  is  in  the  smallest  particulars  of  nature  and  of 
human  prudence  also,  and  is  thereby  universal. 

The  Lord's  Divine  Providence  is  universal  from  its 
existence  in  particulars  in  this:  that  He  created  the 
universe  in  order  that  in  it  there  might  take  place  an 
infinite  and  eternal  creation  from  Himself;  and  this 
creation  is  effected  by  the  fact  that  the  Lord  forms  a 
heaven  of  men,  which  is  before  Him  like  one  man,  who 
is  an  image  and  likeness  of  Him. —  Is  any  one  who 
knows  from  the  doctrine  of  the  church  and  believes 
that  God  is  infinite  and  eternal, —  so  devoid  of  reason 
as  not  to  admit,  the  moment  he  hears  it,  that  God  can- 
not do  otherwise  than  regard  the  infinite  and  eternal  in 
his  great  work  of  creation  ?  (What  else  can  He  regard, 
looking  out  of  Himself?)  And  that  therefore  He  re- 
gards this  in  the  human  race,  from  which  He  forms  that 
heaven  ?  Now  what  other  end  can  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence have  in  view  than  the  reforniatiou  of  the  human 


164 


THE  SWEDENliOUG  LIBRARY. 


race  and  its  salvation?  And  no  one  can  be  reformed 
of  himself  by  his  own  prudence,  but  by  the  Lord  through 
his  Divine  Providence.  It  therefore  follows  that  unless 
the  Lord  leads  man  everj^  smallest  moment,  man  with- 
draws from  the  way  of  reformation  and  perishes.  Every 
change  and  variation  of  state  in  the  human  mind  pro- 
duces a  change  and  variation  in  the  series  of  things 
present,  and  therefore  of  things  consequent ;  why  not 
progressively  to  eternity?  It  is  like  an  arrow  shot 
i'rom  a  bow,  which,  if  it  missed  the  direction  of  the 
mark  ever  so  little  when  leaving  the  bow,  at  a  distance 
of  a  thousand  paces  or  more,  would  miss  it  immensely. 
Bo  would  it  be  if  the  Lord  did  not  direct  the  states  of 
human  minds  every  smallest  moment.  This  the  Lord 
does  according  to  the  laws  of  his  Divine  Providence, 
also  according  to  which  it  is  that  man  seems  to  himself 
to  lead  himself.  But  the  Lord  foresees  how  he  leads 
himself,  and  continually  acts  accordingly. 

Since,  tiicrefore,  every  man  after  death  lives  forever, 
and  is  allotted  a  place  according  to  his  life,  either  in 
heaven  or  in  hell  ;  and  as  no  one  can  be  allotted  any 
phice  but  his  own  ;  it  follows  that  the  human  race 
througliout  the  whole  world  is  under  the  Lord's  au- 
spices, and  that  every  one,  from  infancy  to  the  end  of 
his  life,  is  led  by  Him  in  the  smallest  particulars,  and 
his  place  at  once  foreseen  and  provided..  Evidently, 
therefore,  the  Lord's  Divine  Providence  is  universal  be- 
cause it  is  in  the  least  particulars;  and  this  is  the  in- 
finite and  eternal  creation,  which  the  Lord  has  provided 


HIDDEN  CONTENTS  OF  E  VIL. 


165 


for  Himself  hy  the  creation  of  the  universe.  Of  tliis 
universal  Providence  man  sees  nothing ;  and  if  he  did, 
it  could  only  appear  in  his  eyes  as  the  scattered  piles 
and  accumulated  material  from  which  a  house  is  to  be 
built,  appear  to  passers-by;  but  to  the  Lord  it  appears 
like  a  magnificent  palace  in  the  continual  process  of 
construction  and  enlargement. 

IV.  Heaven  and  hell  exist  in  this  form.  That  heaven 
is  in  the  human  form,  is  made  known  in  the  work  on 
Heaven  and  Hell.  Hell  also  is  said  to  be  in  the  human 
form  ;  but  its  human  form  is  monstrous,  like  that  of 
the  devil,  by  whom  is  meant  all  hell  in  the  aggregate. 
Its  form  is  human,  because  even  its  inhabitants  were 
born  men,  and  also  possess  the  two  human  faculties 
called  liberty  and  rationality;  although  they  have 
abused  their  liberty  to  voluntarily  practise  evil,  and 
their  rationality  to  think  wickedly  and  confirm  it. 

V.  —  They  who  have  acknowledged  natui-e  and  human 
prudence  only,  constitute  hell;  and  they  ^vho  have  ac- 
knowledged God  and  his  Divine  Providence,  constitute 
heaven.  All  who  live  an  evil  life,  interiorly  acknowl- 
edge nature  and  human  prudence  only  ;  the  acknowl- 
edgment of  these  is  inwardly  hidden  in  all  evil,  however 
it  may  be  covered  over  with  wliat  is  good  and  true. 
The  latter  are  merely  borrowed  clotliing,  or  like  wreaths 
of  perishable  flowerets,  put  on  lest  evil  should  appear 
in  its  nakedness.  It  is  not  known  that  all  who  live  an 
evil  life  interiorly  acknowledge  nature  and  human  pru- 
dence only,  owing  to  this  general  covering  up ;  for  the 


166  THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


fuct  is  thereby  hidden  from  sight.  But  tluat  it  is  tlie 
fact,  may  be  evident  from  the  origin  and  cause  of  that 
acknowledgment. 

If  everything  belonging  to  a  man's  employment  and 
life  did  not  seem  subject  to  the  disposal  of  his  own  pru- 
dence, he  could  not  be  led  by,  and  at  the  disposal  of, 
the  Divine  Providence.  For  he  would  be  like  a  man 
standing,  with  his  hands  hanging  down,  his  mouth  open, 
his  eyes  shut,  and  his  breath  held,  in  expectation  of  in- 
flux. He  would  thus  divest  himself  of  his  humanity, 
which  he  possesses  from  the  perception  and  sense  that 
he  lives,  exercises  thought  and  will,  and  speaks  and  acts, 
as  if  from  himself. — 

Therefore,  if  you  wish  to  be  led  by  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence, use  prudence  as  a  servant  and  minister  wlio  faith- 
fully dispenses  the  goods  of  his  master.  This  prudence 
is  meant  by  the  talents  given  to  the  servants  to  trade 
with,  an  account  of  which  they  were  to  return,  Luke 
xix.  13-28;  Matt.  xxv.  14-31.  The  prudence  itself 
seems  to  man  to  be  his  own,  and  he  believes  it  to  be 
his  own  so  long  as  he  keeps  shut  up  within  him  that 
most  inveterate  enemy  of  God  and  his  Divine  Provi- 
dence, self-love.  This  dwells  in  every  man's  interiors 
from  birth  ;  if  you  do  not  recognize  it  (for  it  does  not 
Avish  to  be  recognized),  it  dwells  securely,  and  guards 
the  door  to  prevent  man's  opening  it,  and  to  prevent  its 
own  ejection  by  the  Lord.  Man  opens  this  door  by 
shunning  evils  as  sins,  as  of  himself,  with  the  acknowl- 
edgment that  he  does  it  from  the  Lord.    This  is  the 


SECRET  won  KINGS  OF  rUOVrDENCE.  167 


prudence  witli  wliich  tbe  Divine  Providence  acts  as 
one. 

The  Divine  Providence  operates  so  secretly  tliat 
scarcely  any  one  knows  of  its  existence,  in  order  that 
man  may  not  perish.  For  man's  selfhood,  which  is  his 
will,  never  acts  with  the  Divine  Providence;  it  cher- 
ishes an  inborn  enmity  towards  Providence.  For  it  is 
tlie  serpent  which  seduced  our  first  parents,  of  which  it 
is  said  :  "  I  will  put  enmity  between  thee  and  the  woman, 
and  between  thy  seed  and  her  seed  ;  it  shall  bruise  thy 
head."  Gen.  iii.  15.  The  serpent  is  all  kinds  of  evil ; 
his  head  is  self-love ;  the  seed  of  the  woman  is  the  Lord ; 
the  enmity  established  is  between  the  love  belonging  to 
man's  selfhood  and  the  Lord,  thus  also  between  man's 
own  prudence  and  the  Lord's  Divine  Providence.  For 
man's  own  jirudence  is  continually  exalting  its  head, 
and  the  Divine  Providence  is  continually  lowering  it. 
If  man  felt  this,  he  would  be  enraged  and  exasperated 
against  God,  and  would  perish  ;  and  so  long  as  he  does 
not  feel  it,  he  may  be  enraged  and  exasperated  with 
men,  with  himself,  and  with  fortune,  by  which  he  does 
not  perish.  For  this  reason  the  Lord  by  his  Divine 
Providence  continually  leads  man  in  freedom  ;  and  free- 
dom never  appears  to  man  but  as  his  own  selfhood. 
And  to  lead  man  in  freedom  in  opposition  to  himself, 
is  like  being  with  an  enemy  whose  intention,  of  which 
the  man  is  ignorant,  is  to  kill  him  ;  and  a  friend  con- 
ducts him  away  by  unknown  paths,  and  then  discloses 
the  intention  of  the  enemy. 


168 


THE  SWEDENDOIia  LIltltARY. 


Who  does  not  speak  of  Fortune?  And  who  does  not 
acknowledge  it,  because  he  speaks  of  it,  and  because  he 
knows  something  of  it  from  experience?  But  who 
knows  what  it  is?  That  it  is  something,  because  it 
exists  and  is  operative,  cannot  be  denied;  and  nothing 
can  exist  and  be  operative  without  a  cause.  But  the 
cause  of  this  something,  or  of  fortune,  is  unknown. 
Lest  it  should  be  denied  from  a  mere  ignorance  of 
its  cause,  take  dice  or  cards,  and  play  or  talk  with 
players.  Does  any  of  them  deny  fortune?  for  they  play 
with  it,  and  it  with  them,  wonderfully.  Who  can  suc- 
ceed against  fortune  if  it  is  obstinate?  Does  it  not  then 
laugh  at  prudence  and  wisdom?  When  you  shake  the 
dice  and  shuffle  the  cards,  does  not  fortune  seem  to 
understand  and  control  the  turns  and  movements  of 
the  hands,  to  favor  one  more  than  anothei-,  from  some 
cause?  And  can  the  cause  have  any  other  origin 
than  the  Divine  Providence  in  ultimates,  where  by  con- 
stancy and  fickleness  it  plays  curiously  with  human 
prudence,  and  still  conceals  itself?  It  is  known  that 
the  heathen  acknowledged  Fortune,  and  built  her  a 
temple,  as  did  the  Italians  also  at  Rome.  Of  this 
Fortune  I  have  been  permitted  to  learn  much, — which 
I  am  not  at  liberty  to  make  known, — that  made  it  evi- 
dent to  me  that  it  is  no  mental  illusion,  nor  freak  of 
nature,  nor  a  something  destitute  of  a  cause  (for  this 
would  be  nothing) ;  but  an  ocular  proof  that  the  Divine 
Providence  exists  in  the  smallest  particulars  of  man's 
thoughts  and  actions.    Since  it  exists  in  the  smallest 


APJ'EARANCES  AND  ILLUSIONS. 


169 


particulars  of  things  so  insignificant  and  trifling,  why 
not  in  those  of  matters  that  are  not  insignificant  and 
trifling,  as  the  affairs  of  peace  and  s^ar  in  the  world, 
or  salvation  and  life  in  heaven  ? 

But  I  know  that  human  prudence  sways  reason  to  its 
side  more  than  the  Divine  Providence  sways  it  to  its 
side,  because  the  latter  is  not  apparent,  while  the  former 
is. — Who  does  not  speak  in  favor  of  nature  and  man's 
own  prudence,  when  he  reasons  from  his  natural  or  ex- 
ternal man  ?  Who  also  does  not  speak  in  favor  of  God 
and  his  Providence,  when  he  reasons  from  his  spiritual 
or  internal  man  ?  But  to  the  natural  man  I  say :  I  pray 
you  to  write  two  books,  one  in  favor  of  man's  own  pru- 
dence, and  one  in  favor  of  nature  ;  to  fill  them  with 
arguments  plausible,  probable,  likely,  and  in  your  judg- 
ment valid,  and  then  give  them  into  the  hand  of  any 
angel ;  and  I  know  that  the  angel  will  write  upon  them 
these  few  words  :  They  are  all  A2)pearances  and  Illu- 
sions. (D.  P.,  n.  191-213.) 
15 


XL 

DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  REGARDS  THINGS  ETER- 
NAL, AND  THINGS  TEMPORAL  ONLY  SO  FAR 
AS  THEY  HARMONIZE  WITH  THESE. 

—  Temporal  things  relate  to  dignities  and  riches — 
that  is,  to  honors  and  possessions  in  the  world.  — • 
Since  all  temporal  things  relate  to  dignities  and 
riclies,  it  is  important  to  know  what  dignities  and 
riches  are,  and  their  origin  ;  The  nature  of  the  love  of 
them  for  their  own  sake,  and  the  nature  of  the  love  of 
them  for  the  sake  of  use ;  That  these  two  loves  are  dis- 
tinct from  each  other,  like  heaven  and  hell ;  That  their 
difference  is  but  poorly  understood  by  man.  But  of 
these  separately. 

1st.  What  dignities  and  riches  are,  and  their  origin. 
Dignities  in  ancient  times  were  none  other  than  such  as 
were  accorded  by  children  to  parents,  which  were  digni- 
ties of  love,  full  of  respect  and  veneration  ;  not  because 
of  their  birth  from  them,  but  because  of  instruction  and 
wisdom  received  from  them,  which  were  a  second  birth, 
in  itself  spiritual,  because  it  was  the  birth  of  their 
spirits.  This  was  the  only  dignity  in  ancient  times, 
because  races,  families  and  households  then  dwelt  sepa- 
rately, and  not  under  kingly  governments  as  at  this  day. 
It  was  the  father  of  the  family  in  whom  this  dignity 

170 


THE  GOLDEN  AGE. 


171 


resided.  Those  times  by  tlie  ancients  were  called  the 
Golden  Age.  But  afterwards  the  love  of  rule  from  the 
mere  delight  of  that  love,  gradually  invaded  [man- 
kind] ;  and  because  there  entered  at  the  same  time 
enmity  and  hostility  against  those  who  were  unwilling 
to  submit,  races,  families  and  households  combined  to- 
gether in  bodies  from  necessity,  and  appointed  over 
themselves  one  whom  they  at  first  called  judge,  and 
afterwards  prince,  and  finally  king  and  emperor ;  and 
they  also  then  began  to  protect  themselves  by  towers, 
earth-works  and  walls.  From  the  judge,  prince,  king, 
or  emperor,  as  from  the  head,  the  lust  of  ruling  took 
possession  of  others  like  a  contagion  ;  from  this  arose 
degrees  of  dignity,  and  also  honors  accordant  with 
thom  ;  and  with  these  again,  the  love  of  self  and  the 
jiride  of  man's  own  prudence. 

Something  similar  took  place  with  the  love  of  riches. 
In  the  most  ancient  times,  when  races  and  families  dwelt 
distinct  from  each  other,  the  love  of  riches  was  nothing 
more  than  a  desire  to  possess  the  necessaries  of  life, 
which  they  procured  for  themselves  by  flocks  and  herds, 
and  by  the  fields,  plains  and  gardens  which  furnished 
them  food.  Among  the  necessaries  of  their  lives  were 
even  handsome  houses,  beautified  with  furniture  of  all 
kinds,  and  also  clothing ;  the  parents,  children  and  ser- 
vants in  a  house  were  engaged  in  the  procurement  and 
care  of  all  these  things.  But  after  the  love  of  rule  had 
entered  and  destroyed  this  republic,  the  love  of  ])ossess- 
ing  property  beyond  what  was  necessary  also  entered, 


172 


THE  SWEDENBOllG  LIBRARY. 


and  grew  to  such  a  liciglit  that  it  desired  to  possess  the 
property  of  all  others.  These  two  loves  are  like  blood- 
relations  ;  for  whoever  desires  to  rule  over  all  things, 
also  desires  to  possess  all  things;  for  thus  all  others  be- 
come servants,  and  they  alone  masters.  This  is  evident 
from  those  of  papal  nations,  who  have  exalted  their 
dominion  even  to  heaven,  to  the  throne  of  the  Lord, 
upon  which  they  have  seated  themselves,  in  that  they 
seek  to  grasp  the  wealth  of  all  the  world,  and  to  enlarge 
their  treasuries  without  end. 

2d.  The  nature  of  the  love  of  dignities  and  riches  for 
their  own  sake,  and  the  nature  of  the  love  of  them  for  the 
sake  of  use.  The  love  of  dignities  and  honors  for  the 
sake  of  dignities  and  honors,  is  the  love  of  self — prop- 
erly, the  love  of  rule  originating  in  the  love  of  self ; 
while  the  love  of  riches  and  property  for  the  sake  of 
riches  and  property,  is  the  love  of  the  world  —  properly, 
the  love  of  possessing  the  goods  of  others  by  any  arts 
whatever.  But  the  love  of  dignities  and  riches  for  the 
sake  of  use,  is  the  love  of  use,  which  is  the  same  as  the 
love  of  the  neighbor  ;  for  that  for  which  man  acts  is  the 
end  from  which  he  acts,  and  is  first  or  primary  ;  and  all 
else  are  means  and  secondary.  As  to  the  love  of  digni- 
ties and  honors  for  their  own  sake,  which  is  the  same  as 
the  love  of  self  —  properly,  as  the  love  of  rule  arising 
from  the  love  of  self  —  it  is  the  love  of  the  selfhood; 
and  man's  selfhood  is  all  evil.  Therefore  man  is  said 
to  be  born  into  all  evil,  and  his  hereditary  nature  is  said 
to  be  nothing  but  evil.    Man's  hereditary  nature  is  his 


THE  LUST  OF  DOM  IS  10 


173 


selfhood,  in  which  he  is,  and  into  which  he  comes  by 
self-love,  and  especially  by  the  love  of  rule  arising  from 
self-love.  For  the  man  who  is  in  that  love  regards 
nothing  but  himself,  and  so  immerses  his  thoughts  and 
affections  in  his  selfhood.  Therefore  it  is,  that  the  love 
of  doing  evil  is  inherent  in  self-love.  The  reason  is,  that 
it  loves  not  the  neighbor,  but  self  only.  And  he  who 
loves  himself  only,  sees  others  only  as  out  of  himself, 
or  as  vile,  or  as  of  no  account,  whom  in  comparison  with 
himself  he  despises,  and  upon  whom  he  thinks  it  noth- 
ing to  inflict  evil.  For  this  reason,  he  who  is  in  the  love 
of  rule  arising  from  self-love,  thinks  nothing  of  defraud- 
ing his  neighbor,  of  committing  adultery  with  his  wife, 
of  defaming  him,  of  breathing  revenge  against  him 
even  to  murder,  of  cruelty  towards  him,  and  so  on. —  I 
have  been  permitted  to  feel  the  nature  and  intensity  of 
the  delight  existing  in  the  love  of  rule  from  self-love. 
I  was  introduced  into  it  for  the  pur^jose  of  becoming 
acquainted  with  it;  and  it  was  such  as  to  exceed  all  the 
delights  in  the  world.  It  was  a  delight  of  the  whole 
mind,  reaching  from  its  inmosts  to  its  ultimates ;  but  in 
the  body  it  was  felt  only  as  a  satisfactory  and  pleasing 
sensation  in  the  swelling  breast.  And  I  was  also  per- 
mitted to  feel  that  from  that  delight,  as  from  their  foun- 
tain, gushed  forth  the  delights  of  all  evils, —  as  of 
adultery,  revenge,  fraud,  blasphemy,  and  in  general  of 
evil-doing.  A  similar  delight  is  also  inherent  in  the 
love  of  possessing  the  property  of  others  by  whatever 
arts,  and  I'roni  that  love  in  the  lusts  derived  from  it; 
lo  ' 


174 


THE  SWEDEXBORG  LIIUIARY. 


yet  not  in  the  same  degree,  unless  it  is  united  with  the 
love  of  self. 

But  as  to  dignities  and  riches,  not  for  their  own  sake, 
but  for  the  sake  of  use,  it  is  not  the  love  of  dignities 
and  riches,  but  the  love  of  use,  to  which  love  dignities 
and  riches  are  subservient  as  means.  This  love  is 
heavenly.    But  of  this  more  in  what  follows. 

od.  That  these  two  loves  are  distinct  from  each  other, 
lihe  heavrii.  a>ii<J  hc!l,\s  plain  from  the  above  statements; 
to  which  I  will  add,  that  all  who  are  in  the  love  of 
lule  from  .«elf-love,  whoever  they  are,  whether  great  or 
small,  are  as  to  the  spirit  in  hell ;  and  that  all  who  are 
in  that  love,  are  in  the  love  of  all  evils,  which  if  tiiey 
do  not  commit,  they  yet  in  their  spirit  deem  allowable, 
and  therefore  commit  them  in  body,  when  dignity, 
honor  and  the  fear  of  law  do  not  hinder.  And  what 
is  more,  the  love  of  rule  arising  from  self-love  inmostly 
conceals  in  itself  hatred  of  God,  consequently  of  the 
divine  things  which  belong  to  the  church,  and  espe- 
cially of  the  Lord.  If  they  acknowledge  God,  they  do  so 
with  the  lips  only  ;  and  if  they  acknowledge  the  divine 
things  of  the  church,  they  do  so  for  fear  of  the  loss  of 
honor.  The  reason  why  that  love  inmostly  conceals  in 
itself  hatred  of  the  Lord,  is  because  there  is  inmostly 
in  it  a  desire  to  be  God  ;  for  it  worships  and  adores 
self  alone.  For  this  reason,  if  any  one  honors  it  so  far 
as  to  say  that  it  possesses  divine  wisdom,  and  is  the 
deity  of  the  world,  it  heartily  loves  him. 

With  the  love  of  dignities  and  riches  for  the  sake  of 


HE.l  VEXL  Y  ORE  A  TXESS. 


175 


use  it  is  otherwise ;  this  love  is  heavenly,  because,  as 
before  said,  it  is  the  same  as  the  love  of  the  neighbor. 
Use  rueaus  what  is  good ;  aud  therefore  to  be  useful 
means  to  do  good  ;  aud  to  be  useful  or  to  do  good, 
meaus  to  serve  others  and  miuister  to  them.  They 
[who  do  this],  although  they  enjoy  dignity  and  opu- 
lence, yet  regard  them  only  as  means  of  usefulness ; 
thus  of  service  and  ministration.  Such  are  meant  by 
these  words  of  the  Lord :  "  Whosoever  will  be  great 
among  yon,  let  him  be  your  minister ;  and  whosoever 
■will  be  chief  among  you,  let  him  be  your  servant." 
Matt.  XX.  26,  27.  To  such  also  is  committed  authority 
by  the  Lord  in  heaven ;  for  to  them  authority  is  a 
means  of  being  useful  or  of  doing  good,  thus  of  serving ; 
and  when  uses  or  what  is  good  are  the  ends  or  loves, 
then  they  do  not  bear  rule,  but  the  Lord  ;  for  all  that 
is  good  is  from  Him. 

4th.  That  their  difference  is  but  poorly  understood  by 
man,  is  because  the  most  of  those  who  enjoy  dignity  and 
opulence  are  also  useful,  but  know  not  whether  they 
are  useful  for  their  own  sake  or  for  the  sake  of  use ; 
and  know  it  the  less,  because  in  the  love  of  self  and 
the  world  there  is  more  of  the  fire  aud  ardor  of  doing 
what  is  useful,  than  they  possess  who  are  not  in  the  love 
of  self  and  the  world.  But  the  former  are  useful  for 
the  sake  of  fame  or  profit  —  that  is,  for  the  sake  of  self ; 
while  they  who  are  useful  for  the  sake  of  use,  or  do 
good  for  the  sake  of  the  good,  do  so  not  from  them- 
selves, but  from  the  Lord.    The  dificrence  between 


176 


THE  SWEDEXDORG  LIBRA  JiY. 


them  can  liardly  be  recognized  by  man,  because  lie 
knows  not  whether  he  is  led  by  the  devil  or  by  tlie 
Lord.  He  wlio  is  led  by  the  devil,  is  useful  for  the 
sake  of  himself  and  the  world ;  and  he  who  is  led  by 
the  Lord,  is  useful  for  the  sake  of  the  Lord  and  heaven. 
And  all  who  shun  evils  as  sins,  are  useful  fi-om  the 
Lord ;  while  all  who  do  not  shun  evils  as  sins,  are  use- 
ful from  the  devil ;  for  evil  is  the  devil,  and  use  or 
good  is  the  Lord.  In  this  way  and  in  no  other  is 
their  ditt'orence  recognized.  In  external  form  they 
look  alike;  but  in  their  internal  form  they  are  wholly 
unlike. — 

II. —  Thi>i(/s  eternal  relate  to  spiritual  honors  and 
wealth,  which  are  those  of  love  and  wisdom  in  heaven. 
Since  the  natural  man  calls  the  delights  of  self-love, 
which  are  also  the  delights  of  the  lusts  of  evil,  good^ 
and  also  confirms  [his  belief]  that  they  are  good,  there- 
fore he  calls  honors  and  possessions  divine  blessings. 
But  when  this  natural  man  sees  that  the  wicked  equally 
with  the  good  are  exalted  to  honors  and  endowed  with 
possessions,  and  still  more  when  he  sees  that  the  good 
are  despised  and  in  poverty,  and  the  wicked  in  glory 
and  opulence,  thinks  to  himself.  Why  is  this?  It  can- 
not be  of  the  Divine  Providence ;  for  if  that  governed 
all  things,  it  would  heap  honors  and  possessions  upon 
the  good,  and  would  afflict  the  wicked  with  poverty  and 
contempt,  and  would  so  compel  the  wicked  to  acknowl- 
edge the  existence  of  a  God  and  a  Divine  Providence. 
But  tiic  natural  man,  unless  enlightened  by  the  spir- 


IIOXORS  AND  POSSESSIONS. 


177 


itual,  that  is,  unless  he  is  at  the  same  time  spiritual, 
does  not  see  that  honors  and  possessions  may  be  bless- 
ings, and  raay  also  be  curses ;  and  that  when  they  are 
blessings,  they  are  from  God,  and  when  curses,  from 
the  devil. — 

1st.  Honors  and  possessions  are  blessings,  and  they  are 
curses.  General  experience  testifies  that  the  pious  and 
the  impious,  or  the  just  and  tlie  unjust,  that  is,  both  the 
good  and  the  wicked,  alike  enjoy  dignities  and  means. 
And  yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  tiie  impious  and  un- 
just, that  is,  the  wicked,  go  to  hell ;  while  the  pious  and 
the  just,  that  is,  the  good,  go  to  heaven.  This  being 
true,  it  follows  that  dignities  and  riches,  or  honors  and 
possessions,  are  either  blessings  or  curses ;  and  that 
they  are  blessings  to  the  good  and  curses  to  the  wicked. 
In  heaven  there  are  both  rich  and  poor,  great  and  small ; 
and  also  in  hell.  From  which  it  is  plain  that  dignities 
and  riches  were  in  the  world  blessings  to  those  who  are 
in  heaven,  and  curses  to  those  who  are  iu  hell.  But 
why  they  are  blessings  and  why  they  are  curses,  any 
one  may  know  if  he  reflects  a  little  upon  the  subject 
from  reason ;  that  is,  he  may  know  that  they  are  bless- 
ings to  those  who  do  not  set  tlieir  hearts  upon  them,  and 
curses  to  those  who  do  set  their  hearts  upon  them.  To 
set  the  heart  upon  them  is  to  love  self  iu  them  ;  and  not 
to  set  the  heart  upon  them  is  to  love  use  in  them,  and 
not  self. —  Dignities  and  possessions  seduce  some,  and 
some  they  do  not  seduce.  They  seduce  when  they  excite 
the  loves  of  man's  selfhood,  which  is  self-love,  whicii 
U 


178 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


again  is  the  infernal  love  that  is  called  the  devil ;  but 
they  do  not  seduce  when  they  do  not  excite  that  love. 

That  the  wicked  as  well  as  the  good  are  exalted  to 
honors  and  endowed  with  means,  is  because  the  wicked 
equally  with  the  good  are  useful.  But  the  wicked  are 
useful  for  the  sake  of  their  own  personal  honor  and 
profit,  and  the  good  for  the  sake  of  the  honor  and  profit 
of  tlie  work  itself.  The  latter  regard  the  honor  and 
profit  of  the  work  itself  as  principal,  and  their  own 
personal  honor  and  profit  as  instrumental ;  while  the 
wicked  regard  their  own  personal  honor  and  profit  as 
pruicipal,  and  those  of  the  work  as  iustrumental.  But 
who  does  not  see  that  the  person,  his  ofiice  and  honor 
are  for  the  sake  of  the  work  which  he  does,  and  not  the 
reverse?  Who  does  not  see  tliat  a  judge  exists  for  the 
sake  of  justice,  a  magistrate  for  the  sake  of  the  common 
welfare,  and  a  king  for  the  sake  of  the  kingdom,  and 
not  the  reverse ;  and  that  therefore  every  one  has  dig- 
nity and  honor  in  conformity  with  the  laws  of  the  king- 
dom, according  to  the  dignity  of  the  duties  he  dis- 
charges ;  and  that  the  difi'erence  is  like  that  between 
the  principal  and  the  instrumental  ?  He  who  attributes 
to  himself  or  to  his  own  pei'son  the  honor  of  his  work, 
appears  in  the  spiritual  world,  when  this  subject  is  rep- 
resented, like  a  man  with  liis  body  inverted,  —  feet  up 
and  head  down. 

2d.  Dignities  and  jiossessions,  when  they  are  blessings, 
are  spiiitual  and  eternal;  and  when  curses,  are  temporal 
and  perishable.    There  are  dignities  and  possessions  in 


SPIRITUAL  GOODS  AXD  DIGXITIES.  179 


heaven  as  in  the  world  ;  for  there  are  governments 
there,  and  consequently  offices  and  duties  ;  also  business 
transactions,  and  therefore  possessions,  inasmuch  as  so- 
cieties and  communities  exist  there.  The  universal 
heaven  is  divided  into  two  kingdoms,  one  of  which  is 
called  the  celestial  and  the  other  the  spiritual  kingdom  ; 
and  each  kingdom  is  divided  into  innumerable  societies, 
greater  and  less,  all  of  which  (and  all  in  which)  are 
disposed  according  to  differences  of  love,  and  therefore 
of  wisdom;  —  the  societies  of  the  celestial  kingdom  ac- 
cording to  the  differences  of  celestial  love,  which  is  love 
to  the  Lord,  and  the  societies  of  the  spiritual  kingdom 
according  to  the  differences  of  spiritual  love,  which  is 
love  towards  the  neighbor.  Since  such  is  the  character 
of  [spiritual]  societies,  and  since  all  who  are  in  them 
were  men  in  the  world,  and  therefore  retain  with  them 
the  loves  which  they  had  in  the  world  —  consequently 
they  who  excel  in  love  and  wisdom,  surpass  others  iu 
dignities  and  possessions ;  and  they  are  those  to  whom 
dignities  and  possessions  were  blessings  in  the  world. 
From  this  will  appear  the  nature  of  spiritual  dignities 
and  possessions,  as  belonging  not  to  persons  but  to 
afiairs.  True,  those  who  enjoy  dignity  there,  live  iu 
magnificence  and  splendor  such  as  belong  to  kings  ou 
earth ;  yet  they  do  not  regard  the  dignity  itself  as  any 
thing,  but  the. use  which  it  is  their  office  to  perform. 
They  even  receive  honor,  each  such  as  belongs  to  his 
rank,  but  they  do  not  attribute  it  to  themselves,  but  to 
uses ;  and  as  all  uses  are  from  the  Lord,  they  attribute 


180 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


it  to  the  Lord  from  whom  it  comes.  Such,  therefore, 
nre  spiritual  dignities  and  possessions  which  are  eternal. 

But  it  is  otherwise  with  those  to  whom  in  the  world 
dignities  and  possessions  were  curses.  They,  because 
they  attributed  these  things  to  themselves,  and  not  to 
use,  and  because  they  did  not  wish  that  use  should 
govern  them,  but  that  they  should  govern  use  (which 
they  esteemed  as  use,  so  far  as  it  was  subservient  to 
their  own  honor  and  glory),  are  therefore  in  hell  ;  and 
are  there  vile  slaves,  despised  and  miserable.  There- 
fore, because  these  dignities  and  possessions  fail,  they 
are  called  temporal  and  perishable.  Of  both  these 
classes  the  Lord  thus  teaches :  "  Lay  not  up  for  your- 
selves treasures  upon  earth,  where  moth  and  rust  doth 
corrupt,  and  where  thieves  break  through  and  steal ; 
but  lay  up  for  yourselves  treasures  in  heaven,  where 
neither  moth  nor  rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where  thieves 
do  not  break  through  nor  steal ;  for  where  your  treasure 
is,  there  will  your  heart  be  also."  Matt.  vi.  19-21. 

3d.  Tlie  dignities  and  possessions  which  are  curses, 
compared  with  those  which  are  blessings,  are  as  nothing  to 
everything,  or  as  that  which  in  itself  is,  to  that  ivhich  in 
itself  is  not.  Everything  which  perishes  and  does  not 
become  anything,  inwardly  in  itself  is  nothing.  Out- 
wardly, indeed,  it  is  something ;  nay,  seems  to  be  a 
great  deal,  and  to  some  everything,  while  it  lasts;  but 
not  inwardly  in  itself.  It  is  like  a  superficies  with 
nothing  within  it,  and.  like  an  actor  in  royal  robes  when 
the  play  is  over.    But  that  which  remains  forever  is  in 


THE  TEMPOliAL  A  XL  ETERNAL. 


181 


itself  something  perpetually,  therefore  everything.  It 
moreover  Is,  because  it  does  uot  cease  to  be. 

III. —  Tilings  temporal  and  eternal  axe  separated  by 
man,  but  united  by  the  Lord.  This  is  because  all  that 
pertains  to  man  is  temporal,  from  which  man  may  be 
called  temporal ;  while  all  that  pertains  to  the  Lord  is 
eternal,  from  which  He  is  called  the  Eternal. — 

1st.  Temporal  things  are  all  those  which  are  proper 
to  nature,  and  which  are  consequently  proper  to  man. 
The  things  proper  to  nature,  are  especially  space  and 
time,  both  limited  and  terminated ;  and  the  things  con- 
sequently proper  to  man,  are  such  as  belong  to  his  own 
proper  will  and  understanding,  and  consequeutly  to  his 
affection  and  thought,  especially  to  his  prudence ;  all 
of  which  are  known  to  be  finite  and  limited.  But 
things  eternal  are  all  that  are  proper  to  the  Lord,  and 
from  Him  as  if  proper  to  man.  Everything  proper  to 
the  Lord  is  infinite  and  eternal,  thus  without  time,  con- 
sequently without  limit  and  without  end.  Whatever 
is,  therefore,  as  if  proper  to  man,  is  in  like  manner 
infinite  and  eternal ;  yet  none  of  it  is  man's,  but  be- 
longs to  the  Lord  alone  in  him. — 

2d.  As  nothing  but  what  is  in  a  thing  can  proceed 
from  it,  it  follows  that  from  man  can  proceed  nothing 
but  what  is  temporal,  and  from  the  Lord  nothing  but 
what  is  eternal.  For  the  infinite  cannot  proceed  from 
the  finite ;  to  say  that  it  can,  is  contradictory.  But  yet 
the  infinite  can  proceed  from  the  finite;  though  not 
[really]  from  the  finite,  but  from  llie  iufuiite  through 


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tlie  finite.  On  the  other  hand,  the  finite  cannot  pro- 
ceed from  the  infinite ;  to  say  that  it  can  is  also  con- 
tradictory. Yet  the  finite  may  be  evolved  from  the 
infinite ;  though  this  is  not  to  proceed,  but  to  be  cre- 
ated.—  The  Lord  wishes  that  man  should  not  only  think 
and  talk  about  divine  things,  but  also  reason  about 
tliem,  in  order  that  he  may  see  a  thing  to  be  so  or  not ; 
and  this  thinking,  talking  and  reasoning,  provided  the 
man's  object  is  to  see  the  truth,  may  be  said  to  be  from 
the  Lord  in  man ;  but  it  is  from  the  man  until  he  sees 
the  truth  and  acknowledges  it.  Meanwhile  his  ability 
to  talk,  think  and  reason,  is  exclusively  from  the  Lord ; 
for  he  derives  it  from  the  two  faculties  called  liberty 
and  rationality,  which  be  possesses  from  the  Lord 
alone. 

3d.  Temporal  things  separate  the  eternal  from  them, 
and  things  eternal  unite  the  temporal  to  them.  By 
things  temporal  separating  the  eternal  from  them,  is 
meant  —  that  man,  from  what  is  temporal  in  him, 
separates  fi-om  himself  what  is  eternal  in  the  Lord ; 
but  that  the  Lord  unites  what  is  eternal  in  Himself 
to  what  is  temporal  in  man  —  that  is,  unites  Himself 
to  man,  and  man  to  Himself. 

4th.  The  Lord  unites  man  to  Himself  by  appear- 
ances. For  the  appearance  is,  that  man  of  himself 
loves  his  neighbor,  does  good  and  speaks  truth.  Unless 
these  appeared  to  man  to  be  from  him,  he  would  not 
love  his  neighbor,  do  good  and  speak  truth,  thus  would 
not  be  united  to  the  Lord.    But  as  love,  good  and 


yO  ANGEL  CREATED  IMMEDIATELY. 


183 


truth  are  from  the  Lord,  it  is  plain  that  by  appear- 
ances the  Lord  unites  man  to  Himself. 

5th.  The  Lord  unites  man  to  Himself  by  correspond- 
ences. This  is  effected  by  means  of  the  Word,  the  lit- 
eral sense  of  which  consists  of  mere  correspondences 
That  by  this  sense  there  is  a  union  of  the  Lord  with 
man,  and  a  reciprocal  union  of  man  with  the  Lord,  i? 
shown  in  the  New  Church  Doctrine  of  the  Sucred 
Scripture. 

IV. — The  union  of  things  temporal  and  eternalin  man 
is  the  Lord's  Divine  Providence.  But  as  the  understand- 
ing cannot  acquire  the  first  perception  of  this,  unless 
it  is  first  arranged  in  order,  and  unfolded  and  demon- 
strated accordingly  ;  therefore  this  shall  be  the  order :  — 

1st.  It  is  of  the  Divine  Providence  that  man  should  by 
death  put  off  what  is  natural  and  temporal,  and  put  on 
ivhat  is  spiritual  and  eternal.  The  natural  and  tem- 
poral are  the  outermosts  or  ultimates  into  which  man 
first  enters  (which  he  does  at  birth),  in  order  that  he 
may  afterwards  be  introduced  into  what  is  interior  and 
superior;  for  outermosts  or  ultimates  are  containing 
vessels ;  and  these  exist  in  the  natural  world.  There- 
fore it  is  that  no  angel  or  spirit  is  created  immediately, 
but  all  are  first  born  men,  and  so  introduced  [into 
being].  Hence  they  have  outermosts  or  ultimates, 
which  are  in  themselves  fixed  and  bounded,  within 
which  and  by  which  interiors  may  be  held  in  connec- 
tion. But  man  fii-st  puts  on  the  grosser  elements  of 
nature;  of  these  his  body  is  composed;  but  by  death 


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THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


lie  puts  these  off,  and  retains  the  purer  elements  of 
nature,  which  are  those  nearest  to  the  spiritual,  and 
they  are  then  his  containing  vessels. 

Furtiiermore,  in  outermosts  or  ultimates  all  things 
interior  or  superior  exist  simultaneously;  therefore 
every  operation  of  the  Lord  takes  place  from  primaries 
and  from  ultimates  simultaneously,  thus  in  fulness. 
But  as  outermosts  or  ultimates  cannot  receive  the 
spiritual  and  eternal  for  which  the  human  mind  is 
formed,  as  they  are  in  themselves ;  and  yet  man  is  born 
to  become  spiritual  and  to  live  forever;  therefore  man 
puts  them  off,  and  retains  only  the  interior  natural 
things,  which  are  congruent  and  harmonious  with  the 
spiritual  and  celestial,  and  subserve  them  as  containing 
vessels ;  tliis  is  done  by  the  rejection  of  temporal  and 
natural  ultimates,  which  is  the  death  of  the  body. 

2d.  The  Ijord  hi/  /u'.s  Divine  Providence  unites  with 
what  is  inthn-iil.  III  roll ffh  what  is  spiritual,  and  with  the 
temporal  Ihronyh.  the  eternal,  according  to  uses.  Things 
natural  and  temporal  are  not  only  what  are  proper  to 
nature,  but  also  what  are  proper  to  man  in  the  natural 
world.  Man  puts  off  both  by  death,  and  puts  on  the 
spiritual  and  eternal  things  corresponding  to  them. 
The  natural  things  which  are  proper  to  nature  relate 
in  general  to  time  and  space,  and  particularly  to  what- 
ever is  visible  on  the  earth.  Tliese  man  relinquishes 
by  death,  and  in  place  of  them  assumes  spiritual  things, 
which  in  their  external  asi)ect,  are  similar  to  the  former  ; 
but  not  ill  their  iuLt^ruul  aspect  and  very  essence.  The 


DIVINE  TRUTHS  CLOTHED. 


185 


temporal  things  which  are  proper  to  man  in  the  natural 
world  relate  generally  to  dignities  and  possessions,  and 
particularly  to  the  necessities  of  every  man,  which  are 
food,  clotliing  and  shelter.  These  also  are  put  olf  by 
death,  and  such  things  are  put  on  as  are  like  them  in 
outward  aspect,  but  not  in  their  internal  aspect  and 
essence.  They  all  take  their  internal  aspect  and  es- 
sence from  the  uses  of  temporal  things  in  the  world. 
Use  is  the  good  which  is  calK  d  tln'  good  of  charity. 
From  this  it  may  be  seen  tiiat  the  Lord  by  his  Divine 
Providence  unites  what  is  spiritual  and  eternal  to  what 
is  natural  and  temporal,  according  to  uses. 

3d.  Tlie  Lord  unites  with  uses  throm/h  corrr.^ipondeaces, 
and  thus  through  appearances,  accord iixj  to  their  confir- 
mation by  man.  All  things  in  the  Word  are  mere  cor- 
respondences of  things  spiritual  and  celestial ;  and  be- 
cause they  are  correspondences,  they  are  also  appear- 
ances;  tliat  is,  all  things  in  the  Word  are  the  divine 
good  of  the  Divine  Love,  and  the  divine  truths  of  the 
Divine  Wisdom,  which  are  in  themselves  naked,  but  in 
the  literal  sense  of  the  Word,  clothed.  They  therefore 
appear  like  a  man  in  a  clothing  which  corresponds  to  the 
state  of  his  love  and  wisdom.  From  which  it  is  plain 
that  if  man  confirms  the  appearam  ts,  it  is  like  con- 
firming [himself  in  the  belief]  tiuit  rloilus  are  men; 
then  appearances  become  fallacies.  It  is  otlierwise,  if 
man  seeks  truth  and  sees  it  in  the  appearances.  Now 
as  all  use  (or  all  that  is  true  or  good  originating  in 
charily  ),  wiiich  man  does  towards  the  neighbor,  he  does 
10  * 


1<S6 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


according  eitlier  to  the  appearances  or  to  the  real  truths 
in  the  Word  :  therefore,  if  he  does  it  according  to  these 
appearances  confirmed  in  himself,  he  is  involved  in  fal- 
lacies ;  but  if  he  does  it  according  to  the  truths,  he  does 
it  as  he  ought.  From  this  it  may  be  seen  what  is  meant 
by  the  Lord's  uniting  with  uses  through  correspond- 
ences, and  thus  through  appearances  according  to  their 
confirmation  by  i^an. 

4th.  Such  a  union  of  thinrjs  temporal  and  eternal  is  the 
Divine  Providence. — Dignities  and  their  honors  are  nat- 
ural and  temj)oral  when  in  them  man  regards  himself 
personally,  and  not  the  commonweal  and  use  ;  for  man 
then  cannot  interiorly  think  but  that  the  commonweal 
exists  for  him,  and  not  that  he  exists  for  the  common- 
weal. He  is  like  a  king  who  thinks  that  the  kingdom 
and  all  people  in  it  exist  for  him,  and  not  that  he  exists 
for  the  kingdom  and  its  people.  But  these  same  digni- 
ties and  their  honors  are  spiritual  and  eternal  when 
man  regards  himself  personally  as  existing  for  the  com- 
monweal and  use,  and  not  them  as  existing  for  hira.  If 
man  does  this,  he  is  then  possessed  of  his  dignity  and 
liouor  in  essence  and  in  truth  ;  but  if  the  former,  he  is 
tlieu  [possessed  of  his  dignity  and  honor]  in  correspond- 
ence and  in  appearance,  which  if  he  confirms  in  him- 
self he  is  involved  in  fallacies,  and  is  in  union  with  the 
Lord  only  as  those  who  are  in  the  false  and  its  resultant 
evil ;  for  fallacies  are  the  false  with  which  evil  unites. 
They  have  indeed  promoted  use  and  done  good,  but 


RICHES  USEFULLY  EMPLOYED. 


187 


from  themselves  and  not  from  the  Lord.  They  have 
thus  put  themselves  in  the  Lord's  place. 

It  is  the  same  with  riches  and  possessions,  which  are 
also  natural  and  temporal,  or  spiritual  and  eternal. 
They  are  natural  and  temporal  with  those  who  exclu- 
sively regard  them  and  themselves  in  them,  and  iu  this 
twofold  regard  find  all  their  pleasure  and  delight ;  while 
tlie  same  things  are  spiritual  and  eteriwil  with  those  who 
in  them  regard  good  uses,  and  iu  this  find  an  interior 
pleasure  and  delight.  With  these  even  exterior  and 
temporary  pleasure  and  delight  become  spiritual  and 
eternal.  Therefore  after  death  they  are  in  heaven,  and 
there  live  in  palaces,  the  furniture  of  which  is  resplen- 
dent with  gold  and  precious  stones.  These,  however, 
they  regard  only  as  externals,  resplendent  and  trans- 
lucent from  internals  which  are  uses,  from  which  they 
derive  real  pleasure  and  delight,  which  in  themselves 
are  the  happiness  and  bliss  of  heaven. 

The  reverse  is  the  lot  of  those  who  have  regarded 
riches  and  possessions  solely  for  their  own  sake  and  for 
themselves,  thus  for  the  sake  of  externals  and  not  at  the 
same  time  of  internals ;  and  so  according  to  appear- 
ances, and  not  according  to  their  essential  nature. 
When  they  put  off  these  things,  which  they  do  at 
death,  they  put  on  the  internals  belonging  to  them, 
which,  not  being  spiritual,  cannot  but  be  infernal ;  for 
they  are  inherently  either  one  or  the  other ;  they  cannot 
be  both  at  the  same  time ;  therefore  for  riches  tliey  have 
poverty,  and  for  possessions,  want.    By  use  is  meant  not 


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THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


only  the  necessaries  of  life,  which  relate  to  food,  clothing 
and  shelter  for  a  man  and  his  dependents,  but  also  the 
good  of  his  country,  society  and  his  fellow-citizens. 
Such  good  is  business,  when  it  is  loved  as  an  end,  and 
money  as  a  subservient  means,  provided  the  merchant 
shuns  and  is  averse  to  fraud  and  wicked  arts  as  sins.  It 
is  otherwise  when  money  is  loved  as  an  end,  and  business 
as  a  subservient  means ;  for  this  is  avarice,  which  is  the 
root  of  all  evil.  See  Luke  xii.  15,  and  the  parable 
thereon,  16-21.  (D.  P.,  n.  214-220.) 


XII. 

HOW  FAR  MAN  IS  ADMITTED  INTERIORLY  INTO 
THE  TRUTH  OF  FAITH  AND  THE  GOOD  OF 
CHARITY. 

^^^^T  is  known  in  the  Christian  world  that  the  Lord 
f  SWPf^  desires  the  salvation  of  all,  and  also  that  He  is 
omnipotent.  Therefore  many  conclude  that  He 
is  able  to  save  every  one,  and  that  He  does  save 
those  who  imjilore  his  mercy ;  particularly  those  who, 
after  the  formula  of  the  commonly  accepted  faith,  pray 
God  the  Father  to  be  merciful  for  the  sake  of  the  Son  ; 
especially  if  they  at  the  same  time  pray  that  they  may 
receive  that  faith.  But  that  it  is  quite  otherwise  will  be 
seen  in  the  last  chapter  of  this  work.  —  The  means 
Avhereby  man  is  led  by  the  Lord,  are  what  are  called 
the  laws  of  the  Divine  Providence  ;  among  which  is 
also  this  :  that  man  should  not  be  admitted  interiorly 
into  the  truth  of  wisdom  and  the  good  of  love,  except 
so  far  as  he  can  be  kept  therein  until  the  end  of  life. 
But  to  make  this  evident  to  reason  it  must  be  explained 
in  the  following  order  :  — 

I. —  Man  may  he  admitted  into  the  hioiuledge  of  spir- 
itual things,  and  also  into  the  love  of  them,  and  yet  not  be 
reformed.   This  is  because  he  has  rationality  and  liberty. 

1S9 


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THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


By  ratiouality  he  may  be  elevated  into  wisdom  almost 
augelic;  and  by  liberty  into  a  love  not  unlike  angelic 
love.  Yet  as  his  love  is,  such  is  his  wisdom.  If  his 
love  is  celestial  and  spiritual,  his  wisdom  also  becomes 
celestial  and  spiritual ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  if  his 
love  is  diabolical  and  infernal,  his  wisdom  is  also  dia- 
bolical and  infernal.  The  latter  may,  indeed,  in  out- 
ward form,  and  thus  in  the  eyes  of  others,  seem  to 
be  celestial  and  spiritual  ;  but  in  its  internal  form 
which  is  its  very  essence,  it  is  diabolical  and  infernal  — 
not  out  of  man  but  within  him.  It  does  not  seem  to 
be  such  to  men,  because  they  are  natural,  and  see  and 
hear  naturally ;  and  the  external  form  is  natural ;  but 
such  it  seems  to  be  to  the  angels,  because  they  are  spir- 
itual, and  see  and  hear  spiritually ;  and  the  internal 
form  is  spiritual.  From  this  it  is  plain  that  man  may 
be  admitted  into  the  knowledge  of  spiritual  things,  and 
also  into  the  love  of  them,  and  yet  not  be  reformed ; 
but  then  only  into  the  natural  not  into  the  spiritual  love 
of  them. — 

By  much  experience  in  the  spiritual  world  I  have 
been  taught  that  man  possesses  in  himself  the  faculty 
of  understanding  arcana  of  wisdom,  like  the  angels 
themselves.  For  I  have  seen  fiery  devils  who,  when 
they  heard  arcana  of  wisdom,  not  only  understood  them, 
but  also  spoke  of  them  from  their  own  ratiouality ; 
Avhile  as  soon  as  they  returned  to  their  diabolical  love, 
they  did  not  understand  them  ;  but  instead  of  them, 
the  contrary,  which  was  foolishness ;  and  this  they  then 


n  iSDoyr  axd  foolishxess. 


191 


called  wisdom.  I  have  even  been  permitted  to  hear 
them,  when  in  a  state  of  wisdom,  laughing  at  their 
foolishness ;  and  when  in  a  state  of  foolishness,  laugh- 
ing at  wisdom.  Men  Avho  have  been  of  this  character 
in  the  world,  after  death,  when  they  become  spirits,  are 
introduced  so  far  as  possible  into  alternate  states  of 
wisdom  and  foolishness,  so  that  they  may  see  the  latter 
from  the  former.  But  although  from  wisdom  they  see 
their  foolishness,  still  when  the  choice  is  given  them 
(as  it  is  to  all),  they  put  themselves  into  a  state  of 
foolishness,  and  love  it,  and  then  regard  a  state  of 
wisdom  with  hatred.  This  is  because  their  internal  was 
diabolical,  and  their  external  apparently  divine. — 

AVho  cannot  see  that  it  is  the  internal  from  which  the 
external  is  evolved,  consequently  that  the  external  has 
its  essence  from  the  internal  ?  And  who  does  not  know 
from  experience,  that  the  external  may  appear  difierent 
from  what  it  essentially  is  from  the  internal?  This  is 
manifest  from  hypocrites,  flatterers  and  pretenders ; 
and  that  man  can  externally  personate  characters  not 
his  own,  is  manifest  from  actors  and  mimics :  for  they 
know  how  to  represent  kings,  emperors,  nay,  angels,  in 
voice,  language,  feature  and  gesture,  as  if  they  were 
those  persons;  when  yet  they  are  but  players.  This 
latter  remark  is  also  made  [of  men],  because  they  can 
in  like  manner  play  the  hypocrite  in  civil  and  moral, 
as  well  as  in  spiritual  affairs;  and  it  is  known  also  that 
many  do  so.  When  the  internal  is  thus  in  its  essence 
infernal,  and  the  external  in  its  form  ajjpears  to  be 


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TTIE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


spiritual,  while  yet  the  external  derives  its  essence  from 
the  iuterual,  as  before  stated,  it  is  a  question  where  that 
essence  is  concealed  in  the  external ;  it  does  not  appear 
in  gesture,  tone,  words  or  feature,  but  yet  it  is  interiorly 
hidden  in  these  four  things,  as  is  manifest  in  the  spiritual 
world;  for  when  a  man  goes  from  the  natural  world- 
into  the  spiritual,  as  he  does  at  death,  he  relinquishes 
his  externals  togetiier  with  the  body,  and  retains  his 
internals,  which  he  had  concealed  in  his  spirit.  Then, 
if  his  internal  was  infiernal,  he  appears  like  a  devil,  such 
as  he  had  also  been  in  spirit  while  he  lived  in  the  world. 
—  In  the  spiritual  world  there  is  a  communication  of 
affections  and  therefore  of  thoughts ;  owing  to  which 
fact  no  one  can  there  speak  otherwise  than  as  he  thinks. 
Moreover  every  one  there  changes  his  face,  and  becomes 
like  his  own  affection  ;  so  that  his  character  also  is  ap- 
parent from  his  face.  Hypocrites  are  sometimes  per- 
mitted to  speak  otherwise  than  they  think  ;  but  the  tone 
of  their  voices  sounds  totally  discordant  with  their  in- 
terior thoughts ;  and  by  that  discordance  they  are 
known.  Evidently,  therefore,  the  internal  is  interiorly 
hidden  in  the  tone,  words,  features  and  gestures  of  tlie 
external,  and  i.s  not  perceived  by  men  in  the  natural" 
world  but  clearly  by  angels  in  the  spiritual  world. — 

II. —  If  man  afterwards  recedes  from  things  spiritual, 
and  becomes  opposed  to  them,  he  profanes  what  is  holy. 
There  are  several  kinds  of  profanation  of  what  is  holy, 
but  this  is  the  most  grievous  of  all ;  for  they  who  com- 
mit this  kind  of  profanation,  after  death  are  no  longer 


MAX'S  BOOK  OF  LIFE. 


193 


men.  They  live,  indeed,  but  continually  under  fontastic 
hallucinations.  They  seem  to  themselves  to  fly  in  the 
air,  and  while  they  remain  there,  they  play  with  fiin- 
tasies  which  to  them  appear  to  be  real  things;  and  be- 
cause they  are  no  longer  men,  they  are  not  called  "he" 
and  "  she,"  but  "  it."  Nay,  when  presented  to  view  in 
the  light  of  heaven,  they  look  like  skeletons,  some  like 
skeletons  of  the  color  of  bone,  some  like  fiery,  and  some 
like  charred,  skeletons.  It  is  not  known  in  the  world 
that  they  who  commit  this  kind  of  profanation  become 
such  after  death  ;  and  it  is  unknown,  for  the  reason 
that  the  cause  is  unknown.  The  real  cause  is,  that 
when  man  first  acknowledges  what  is  Divine,  and  be- 
lieves in  it,  and  afterwards  recedes  from  and  denies  it, 
he  commingles  what  is  holy  with  what  is  profane,  which 
being  commingled,  they  cannot  be  separated  except  by 
the  destruction  of  the  whole.  But  to  make  this  subject 
more  clearly  understood,  it  must  be  unfolded  in  its 
proper  order. — 

1st.  Whatever  man  tJiinks,  says  and  does  volnntanly, 
both  good  and  evil,  w  appropriated  to  him  and  is  perma- 
nent. For  tnan  possesses  an  external  or  natural  memory, 
and  an  internal  or  spiritual  memory.  Upon  the  latter 
memory  are  inscribed  everything  which  he  had  vol- 
untarily thought,  said  and  done  while  in  the  world  — 
and  this  so  particularly  that  nothing  is  wanting.  This 
mem  .ry  is  his  book  of  life,  which  is  opened  after  death, 
and  according  to  which  he  is  judged. 

2(\.  Bid  the  Lord  by  his  Divine  Providence  continually 
17  N 


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watches  and  disposes  things,  so  that  evil  may  be  by  itself 
and  good  by  itself,  and  that  thus  they  may  be  separated. 
Every  man  is  both  iu  evil  aud  iu  good ;  for  he  is  in 
evil  from  himself,  and  in  good  from  the  Lord  ;  and  man 
cannot  live  unless  he  is  in  both.  If  he  were  in  self 
only,  and  thus  in  evil  only,  lie  would  have  no  life ;  and 
if  he  were  in  the  Lord  only,  and  thus  iu  good  only,  he 
Avould  have  no  life.  For  in  the  latter  state  of  life  man 
would  constantly  breathe  like  one  suffocated,  as  if  in 
the  agonies  of  death  ;  aud  in  the  former  state  he  would 
cease  to  exist,  for  evil  divested  of  all  good  is  in  itself 
dead ;  wherefore  every  man  is  in  both.  But  the  diffei-- 
ence  is,  that  one  is  interiorly  in  the  Lord,  and  exteriorly 
as  if  in  self;  while  the  other  is  interiorly  in  self,  but  ex- 
teriorly as  if  in  the  Lord  ;  and  the  latter  is  in  evil,  aud 
the  former  in  good  ;  while  nevertheless  each  is  iu  both. 
That  this  is  true  even  of  a  wicked  man,  is  because  he 
is  iu  the  good  of  civil  aud  moral  life,  and  also  ex- 
ternally to  some  little  extent  in  the  good  of  sisiritual 
life.  Moreover,  he  is  held  by  the  Lord  in  a  state  of 
rationality  and  liberty  in  order  to  render  him  capable 
of  being  iu  good.  This  is  the  good  by  which  every  man, 
even  a  wicked  one,  is  led  by  the  Lord.  From  this  it 
may  be  seen  that  the  Lord  separates  good  and  evil,  so 
that  one  may  be  interior  and  the  other  exterior,  and  so 
takes  care  that  they  shall  not  be  commingled. 

od.  Ihd.  this  cannot  be  done  if  man  first  acknowledges 
llie  truths  of  faith  and  lives  according  to  them,  and  after- 
'wards  recedes  from  and  denies  them.    This  is  plain  from 


COMMI^'GLING  GOOD  AND  EVIL. 


195 


what  has  already  been  said. —  From  those  who  are  iii- 
leriorly  wicked  and  exteriorly  good,  the  good  is  taken 
away  after  death,  and  they  are  left  to  their  evils.  The 
reverse  takes  place  with  those  who  are  interiorly  good, 
and  who  exteriorly  acquired  property  like  other  men, 
sought  after  rank,  took  delight  in  various  worldly  af- 
fairs, and  favored  certain  lusts.  With  these,  however, 
good  and  evil  are  not  commingled,  but  separate  like 
tlie  internal  and  external.  Thus  they  were  externally 
in  many  respects  like  the  wicked,  but  not  internally. 
\Yith  the  wicked,  too,  on  the  other  hand,  who  appeared 
externally  like  the  good  in  piety,  worship,  words  and 
works,  and  yet  were  internally  wicked  —  with  them 
also  evil  is  separated  from  good.  But  with  those  who 
have  first  acknowledged  the  truths  of  faith  and  lived 
according  to  them,  and  have  afterwards  become  opposed 
to  them  and  rejected  them,  and  especially  if  they  have 
denied  them,  with  these  good  and  evil  are  not  sepa- 
rated but  commingled :  for  such  have  appropriated 
good,  and  also  evil,  and  so  have  united  and  commin- 
gled them. 

4th.  He  then  commingles  good  and  evil  to  snch  an  extent 
that  they  cannot  be  separated.  This  follows  from  the 
foregoing ;  and  if  the  evil  in  him  cannot  be  separated 
from  the  good,  nor  the  good  from  the  evil,  he  can  neither 
be  in  heaven  nor  in  hell.  Every  man  must  be  in  either 
one  or  the  other.  He  cannot  be  in  both  ;  for  thus  he 
would  be  sometimes  in  heaven  and  sometimes  in  hell ; 
and  while  in  heaven  he  would  act  in  favor  of  hell,  and 


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while  in  hell  he  would  act  in  favor  of  heaven.  He 
would  thus  destroy  the  life  of  all  around  him,  heavenly 
life  among  the  angels,  and  infernal  life  among  the 
devils ;  consequently  every  one's  life  would  perish  ;  for 
every  one  must  have  his  own  life.  No  one  can  live  in 
a  life  that  is  foreign  to  him,  much  less  in  one  opposed. 
Therefore  it  is  that  the  Lord  in  every  man  after  death, 
when  he  becomes  a  spirit,  separates  the  good  from  the 
evil  and  the  evil  from  the  good ;  the  good  from  the 
evil  with  those  who  are  interiorly  in  evil,  and  the  evil 
from  the  good  with  those  who  are  interiorly  in  good  •, 
which  is  according  to  his  words  :  "  For  whosoever  hath, 
to  him  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have  more  abun- 
dance ;  but  whosoever  hath  not,  from  him  shall  be  taken 
away  even  that  he  hath."  Matt.  xiii.  12;  xxv.  29; 
Mark  iv.  25  ;  Luke  viii,  18  ;  xix.  26. 

5th.  An  the  good  and  evil  in  every  man  must  be  sepa- 
rated, and  in  such  a  man  cannot  be,  he  is  therefore  de- 
stroyed as  to  everything  truly  human.  The  truly  human 
exists  in  every  one  from  the  ability  to  see  and  know 
from  rationality,  if  he  will,  what  is  true  and  what  is 
good  ;  and  also  from  the  ability  to  will,  think,  speak 
and  act  accordingly  from  liberty.  But  this  liberty  with 
its  rationality  is  destroyed  with  those  who  have  com- 
mingled in  themselves  good  and  evil;  for  they  cannot 
from  the  good  see  evil,  nor  from  evil  recognize  tlie 
good,  for  [in  them]  they  make  one.  Therefore  they  no 
longer  possess  rationality  in  its  proper  activity  or  power, 
nor  therefore  liberty.    This  is  why  they  are  like  mere 


THE  TRULY  HUMAN  DESTUOYED. 


197 


fantastic  hallucinations,  as  said  above,  and  no  longer 
look  like  men,  but  like  bones  with  a  little  skin  pulled 
over  them  ;  and  therefore  when  mentioned  they  are  not 
called  "he "  or  "she,"  but  "it." — 

No  man  thus  profanes  what  is  holy  who  is  ignorant 
of  it ;  for  he  who  is  ignorant  of  it  cannot  acknowledge 
it  and  afterwards  deny  it.  Therefore  they  who  are  out- 
side of  the  Christian  world,  and  know  nothing  of  the 
Lord  and  of  redemption  and  salvation  by  Him,  do 
not  profane  this  holy  subject  when  they  do  not  accept 
it  [as  truth],  nor  even  when  they  speak  against  it. 
The  Jews  themselves  do  not  profane  this,  because  from 
infancy  they  are  unwilling  to  accept  and  acknowledge 
it;  it  would  be  otherwise  if  they  were  to  accept  and 
acknowledge  it,  which,  however,  is  rarely  done;  for 
many  among  them  accept  it  externally,  and  deny  it 
internally,  and  are  like  hypocrites.  But  they  profane 
what  is  holy  by  a  commingling  of  it  with  what  is  pro- 
fane, who  first  accept  and  acknowledge  it,  and  after- 
wards reject  and  deny  it.  It  is  of  no  consequence  that 
men  accept  and  acknowledge  anything  in  childhood  — 
every  Christian  does  this  —  because  then  they  do  not 
accept  and  acknowledge  what  belongs  to  faith  and 
charity  from  any  degree  of  rationality  and  liberty  — 
that  is,  in  understanding  from  the  will  —  but  only 
from  memory  and  on  the  authority  of  teachers ;  and  if 
they  live  according  to  it,  they  do  so  from  a  blind  obe- 
dience. 

But  when  a  man  attains  to  the  use  of  his  rationality 
17* 


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and  liberty,  wbich  he  docs  gradually  as  he  grows  to 
manhood,  if  he  then  acknowledges  truths  and  lives  ac- 
cording to  them,  and  afterwards  denies  them,  he  com- 
mingles the  holy  with  tlie  profane,  and  from  a  man 
becomes  a  monster,  as  above  described.  But  if  man  is 
in  evil  from  the  time  when  he  comes  into  the  possession 
of  his  rationality  and  liberty,  or  becomes  independent, 
until  early  manhood,  and  afterwards  acknowledges  the 
truths  of  faith  and  lives  according  to  them,  provided  he 
then  continues  in  them  until  the  end  of  life,  he  does  not 
commingle  good  and  evil ;  for  the  Lord  then  separates 
the  evil  of  his  former  life  from  the  good  of  his  after  life. 
This  takes  place  with  all  who  repent. 

III. —  There  are  several  kinds  of  profanation  of  what  is 
Itohj,  hut  this  kind  is  the  worst  of  all.  Profanation  in  the 
most  general  sense  means  all  impiety;  so  that  by  those 
who  commit  profanation  aie  meant  all  who  are  impious, 
who  in  heart  deny  God,  the  holiness  of  the  Word,  and 
consequently  the  spiritual  things  of  the  church,  which 
are  the  truly  holy,  of  which  they  even  speak  impiously. 
Of  such,  however,  we  do  not  here  treat,  but  of  those  who 
profess  [a  belief  in]  God,  affirm  the  holiness  of  the 
Word,  and  acknowledge  the  spiritual  things  of  the 
church,  though  generally  in  words  only.  The  reason 
why  these  commit  profanation  is,  that  what  is  holy  from 
the  Word  is  in  them  and  with  them ;  and  that  which  is 
in  them  and  forms  some  part  of  their  understanding 
and  will,  they  profane.  While,  on  the  other  hand,  in 
tlie  impious  who  deny  the  Divine  and  whatever  is 


PROFAXrXG  GOD'S  yA}fE. 


199 


divine,  tlicrc  is  nothing  holy  which  they  can  profane. 
Tlicy  do  indeed  commit  profanation,  but  yet  they  are 
not  profane. 

Tiie  profanation  of  what  is  holy  is  meant  in  the 
second  commandment  of  the  decalogue  by,  T/iou  shalt 
not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in  vain :  and  that 
this  name  ought  not  to  be  profaned  is  meant  in  the 
Lord's  Prayer  by,  Hallowed  be  thy  Name.  What  is 
meant  by  the  Name  of  God  hardly  any  one  in  the 
Christian  world  knows  ;  for  it  is  not  known  that  in  the 
spiritual  world  names  are  not  like  those  in  the  natural 
world,  but  every  one  is  there  named  according  to  the 
character  of  his  love  and  wisdom;  for  when  any  one 
first  enters  a  society  or  into  association  with  others,  he 
is  immediately  named  there  according  to  his  character. 
The  naming  is  done  by  spiritual  language,  which  is 
such  that  it  can  give  a  name  to  anything ;  because 
every  letter  in  the  alphabet  there  signifies  one  thing, 
and  the  several  lettei-s  joined  in  the  one  word  which 
forms  the  name,  involve  the  entire  state  of  the  thing. 
This  is  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  spiritual  world. 
From  this  it  is  plain,  that  in  the  Word  the  name  of 
God  signifies  God  with  all  the  Divinity  that  is  in  Him 
and  that  proceeds  from  Him  ;  and  as  the  Word  is  the 
proceeding  Divine,  it  is  the  name  of  God  ;  and  as  all 
divine  things,  which  are  called  the  spiritual  things  of 
the  church,  are  from  the  Word,  they  also  are  the  name 
of  God.  From  this  may  be  seen  what  is  meant  in  the 
second  commandment  hy,  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name 


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of  the  Lord  thy  Ood  in  vain ;  and  in  the  Lord's  Prayer 
by,  Hallowed  be  thy  name. — 

Since  the  profanation  of  what  is  holy  means  profana- 
tion by  those  who  from  the  Word  know  what  is  the 
truth  of  faith  and  the  good  of  charity,  and  also  in  some 
measure  acknowledge  them ;  and  not  by  those  who  do 
not  know  them,  nor  by  those  who  fi'om  impiety  wholly 
reject  them ;  therefore  what  follows  is  said  not  of  the 
latter,  but  of  the  former.  Their  profanation  is  of 
several  kinds,  more  or  less  grievous ;  but  they  may  be 
referred  to  these  seven. 

The  first  kind  of  profanation  is  committed 
BY  those  who  jest  with  the  Word  and  about  it,  or  with  the 
Divine  things  of  the  church  and  about  them.  This  is  done 
by  some  from  a  bad  habit,  by  selecting  words  or  ex- 
pressions from  the  Word,  and  introducing  them  in 
unbecoming  and  sometimes  in  unclean  conversation, 
which  cannot  but  be  connected  with  some  contempt  for 
the  Word  ;  when  yet  the  Word  in  general  and  in  par- 
ticular is  Divine  and  holy;  for  every  word  therein  con- 
ceals in  its  bosom  something  Divine,  and  thereby  has 
communication  with  heaven.  But  this  kind  of  prof- 
anation is  more  or  less  serious  according  to  the  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  holiness  of  the  Word,  or  the 
unbecoming  character  of  the  conversation  into  which 
it  is  introduced  by  those  who  jest  with  it. 

The  second  kind  of  profanation  is  committed 
BY  THOSE  who  Understand  and  acknowledge  Divine 
truths,  and  yet  live  contrary  to  them.    But  they  profane 


KlXnS  OF  PROFANATION. 


201 


more  lightly  who  only  understand,  and  they  more  griev- 
ously who  also  acknowledge;  for  the  understanding 
merely  teaches,  almost  like  a  preacher,  and  does  not 
of  itself  unite  with  the  will ;  but  acknowledgment 
does ;  for  nothing  can  be  acknowledged  without  the 
will's  consent.  But  yet  [the  degree  of]  this  union  is 
variable,  and  the  profanation  is  proportionate  to  the 
union  when  a  man's  life  is  contrary  to  the  truths  he  ac- 
knowledges. For  example :  If  any  one  acknowledges 
that  revenge  and  hatred,  adultery  and  fornication,  fraud 
and  deceit,  blasphemy  and  lying,  are  sins  against  God, 
and  yet  commits  them,  he  is  guilty  of  the  more  griev- 
ous foi"m  of  this  kind  of  profanation.  For  the  Lord 
says  :  "  That  servant  Avho  knew  his  lord's  will,  and  pre- 
pared not  himself,  neither  did  according  to  his  will, 
shall  be  beaten  with  many  stripes."  Luke  xii.  47.  And 
elsewhere :  "  If  ye  were  blind,  ye  should  have  no  sin  ; 
but  now  ye  say.  We  see,  therefore  your  sin  remaineth." 
John  ix.  41.  But  it  is  one  thing  to  acknowledge  ap- 
pearances of  truth,  and  another  to  acknowledge  genuine 
truths ;  they  who  acknowledge  genuine  truths,  and  still 
do  not  live  according  to  them,  in  the  spiritual  world 
seem  in  their  voice  and  language  to  be  without  the  light 
and  heat  of  life,  as  if  they  were  mere  inert  things. 

The  third  kind  of  profanation  is  committed 
BY  THOSE  who  use  the  literal  tsense  of  the  Word  to  confirm 
evil  loves  and  false  principles.  This  is  because  the  con- 
firmation of  what  is  false  is  the  denial  of  what  is  true ; 
and  the  confirmation  of  what  is  evil  is  the  rejection  of 


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what  is  good  ;  and  tlie  Word  in  its  depths  is  nothing 
but  Divine  Truth  and  Good,  and  this  in  its  ultimate 
sense  whicli  is  the  literal,  does  not  appear  in  genuine 
truths,  except  where  it  teaches  about  the  Lord  and  the 
way  of  salvation  itself,  but  in  truths  clothed,  which  are 
called  appearances  of  truth.  Thei-efoi'e  that  sense  may 
be  turned  to  confirm  many  kinds  of  heresies.  But  he 
who  [by  it]  confirms  evil  loves,  does  violence  to  Divine 
Good  ;  and  he  who  [by  it]  confirms  false  principles,  does 
violence  to  Divine  Truth.  This  violence  is  called  the 
falsification  of  truth,  but  that  the  adulteration  of  good; 
both  are  meant  in  the  Word  by  blood  [literally,  bloods]. 
For  a  holy  spiritual  principle,  which  is  also  the  Spirit 
of  Truth  proceeding  from  the  Lord,  is  contained  within 
the  particulars  of  the  literal  sense  of  the  Word.  This 
holy  principle  is  hurt  when  the  AVord  is  falsified  and 
adulterated.    That  this  is  profanation  is  obvious. 

The  fourth  kind  of  profanation  is  committed 
BY  those  who  with  the  hps  utter  pious  and  holy  senti- 
ments, and  also  simulate  the  love  of  them  in  their  tones 
and  gestures,  and  yet  in  heart  do  not  believe  in  or  love 
them.  The  most  of  these  are  hypocrites  and  Pharisees, 
from  whom  after  death  all  truth  and  goodness  is  taken 
away,  and  then  they  are  sent  into  outer  darkness.  Those 
of  this  class  who  have  confirmed  themselves  against  the 
Divine  and  against  the  Word,  and  consequently  against 
all  the  spiritual  things  in  the  Word,  sit  in  that  dark- 
ncv-^s  dumb,  unable  to  speak,  wishing  to  babble  about 
what  is  pious  and  holy,  as  they  did  in  the  world,  but 


Kryns  of  profanation. 


203 


unable  to  do  so.  For  iu  the  spiritual  world  every  one 
is  compelled  to  speak  as  he  thinks ;  but  hypocrites  wish 
to  speak  otherwise  than  they  think  ;  consequently  there 
exists  in  the  mouth  an  opposition,  owing  to  which  they 
can  only  mumble.  But  hypocrisy  is  more  or  less  griev- 
ous according  to  confirmations  against  God  and  reason- 
ings in  favor  of  Him  exteriorly. 

The  fifth  kixd  of  profanation  is  committed 
BY  those  xvho  attribute  to  themselves  what  is  Divine. 
Such  are  meant  by  Lucifer,  in  the  fourteenth  chapter 
of  Isaiah.  Lucifer  there  means  Babylon,  as  is  evi- 
dent from  the  fourth  and  twenty-second  verses  of  the 
same  chapter,  where  the  lot  of  such  is  also  described. 
The  same  class  is  also  meant  and  described  by  the  whore 
sitting  on  the  scarlet  beast,  iu  the  seventeenth  chapter 
of  the  Revelation.  Babylon  and  Chaldea  are  mentioned 
in  many  places  in  the  "Word  ;  and  by  Babylon  is  there 
meant  the  profanation  of  what  is  good,  and  by  Chaldea 
the  profanation  of  what  is  true ;  both  with  those  who 
attribute  to  themselves  what  is  Divine. 

The  sixth  kind  of  profanation  is  committed 
HY  those  roho  acknowledge  the  Word,  and  yet  deny  the 
Divinity  of  the  Lord.  In  the  world  this  class  is  called 
Socinians,  and  some  of  them  Arians.  The  lot  of  both 
is,  that  they  invoke  the  Father  and  not  the  Lord,  and 
cnntiuually  pray  to  the  Father  —  some  even  for  the  sake 
■  the  Son  —  to  admit  them  into  heaven,  but  in  vain, 
even  until  they  lose  all  hope  of  salvation ;  and  tlieu 
they  are  sent  to  hell  among  those  who  deny  God.  Such 


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are  meant  by  those  who  speak  against  the  Holy  Spirit, 
who  are  not  forgiven  eitiier  in  this  world  or  in  the  world 
to  come,  Matt.  xii.  32.  This  is  because  God  is  one  in 
.Person  and  in  Essence,  in  whom  is  a  Trinity,  and  that 
God  is  the  Lord.  And  as  the  Lord  is  also  heaven,  and 
consequently  those  who  are  in  heaven  are  in  Him,  there- 
fore, those  who  deny  his  Divinity  cannot  be  admitted 
into  heaven  and  be  in  the  Lord. 

The  seventh  kind  of  profanation  is  committed 
BY  THOSE  who  first  acknowledge  Divine  truths  and  live 
according  to  them,  and  aftenvards  recede  from  and  deny 
them.  This  is  the  worst  kind  of  profanation,  because 
they  who  commit  it  commingle  the  holy  and  the  profane 
to  such  an  extent  that  they  cannot  be  separated  ;  and 
yet  they  must  be  separated,  in  order  for  man  to  be  either 
in  heaven  or  in  hell.  And  because  with  this  class  that 
separation  cannot  be  effected,  all  of  their  intellectual 
and  voluntary  humanity  is  eradicated,  and,  as  before 
said,  they  are  no  longer  men.  Nearly  the  same  takes 
place  with  those  who  in  heart  acknowledge  what  is 
Divine  in  the  Word  and  in  the  church,  and  immerse  it 
wholly  in  their  selfhood,  which  is  the  love  of  ruling 
over  all  things.  For  they,  after  death,  are  wholly  un- 
willing to  be  led  by  the  Lord,  but  wish  to  be  led  by 
themselves ;  and  when  the  rein  is  given  to  their  love, 
they  wish  not  only  to  rule  over  heaven,  but  also  over 
the  Lord ;  and  as  they  cannot  do  this,  they  deny  the 
Lord  and  become  devils.  It  must  be  known  that  the 
life's  love  which  is  also  the  ruling  love,  i-emains  with 


SAD  STATE  OF  I'KOFANERS. 


205 


every  one  after  death,  and  cannot  be  taken  away.  The 
profane  of  this  class  are  meant  by  the  lukewarm  spoken 
of  in  the  Revelation  iii.  15, 16.  This  kind  of  profana- 
tion is  also  described  by  the  Lord  in  Matthew,  xii.  43- 
45.  Man's  conversion  is  described  by  the  departure 
from  him  of  the  unclean  spirit;  and  his  return  to  his 
former  evils,  the  good  and  true  being  rejected,  by  the 
return  of  the  unclean  spirit,  with  seven  others  worse 
than  himself,  into  the  house  prepared  for  him  ;  and  the 
profanation  of  what  is  holy  by  a  profane  person,  is  de- 
scribed by  the  last  state  of  that  man  being  worse  than 
the  first.  The  same  is  meant  by  the  passage  in  John, 
where  Jesus  said  to  him  who  had  been  healed  at  the 
pool  Bethesda :-  "  Sin  no  more,  lest  a  worse  thing  come 
unto  thee."  v.  14. 

That  the  Lord  provides  against  man's  acknowledging 
truths,  and  afterwards  receding  and  becoming  profane, 
is  meant  by  these  words  :  "  He  hath  blinded  their  eyes 
and  hardened  their  heart;  that  they  should  not  see  with 
tlieir  eyes,  nor  understand  with  their  heart,  and  be  con- 
verted, and  I  should  heal  them."  John  xii.  40.  Lest 
they  should  be  converted  and  I  should  heal  them,  sig- 
nifies lest  they  should  acknowledge  truths  an*l  then  re- 
cede from  them,  and  so  become  profana  For  the  same 
reason  the  Lord  spoke  in  parables,  as  He  himself  says, 
Matt.  xiii.  13.  That  he  who  is  once  converted  to  what 
is  good  and  true  should  continue  therein  until  the  end 
of  life,  the  Lord  teaches  in  Matthew:  "He  that  en- 
18 


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THE  SWEDENBOHG  LIBRARY. 


dureth  to  the  end  shall  be  saved,"  x.  22 ;  also  in  Mark 
xiii.  13. 

IV. —  Therefore  the  Lord  docs  not  admit  man  into  the 
truth  of  witsdom,  and  at  the  same  time  into  the  good  of  love, 
except  so  far  as  man  can  be  kept  in  them  until  the  end  of 
life.  The  deiiionstratiou  of  this  must  be  carried  out  by 
distinct  steps,  for  two  reasons  ;  fii'st,  because  it  concerns 
man's  salvation  ;  and  secondly,  because  on  a  knowledge 
of  this  law  depends  the  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  per- 
mission. Therefore,  so  to  disclose  this  arcanum  of  the 
Divine  Providence,  that  the  rational  man  can  see  it 
in  his  own  light,  it  shall  be  unfolded  in  the  following 
order : — 

1st.  Good  and  evil  cannot  exist  simultaneously  in  man's 
interiors,  nor,  therefore,  the  falsity  originating  in  evil  and 
the  tridh  origuiating  in  good.  By  man's  interiors  is 
meant  the  internal  of  his  thought,  of  which  he  knows 
nothing  until  he  enters  into  the  spiritual  world  and  its 
light,  whicli  takes  place  after  death.  In  the  natural 
world  this  can  only  be  known  from  the  delight  of  the 
man's  love  in  tlic  external  of  his  thought,  and  from 
evils  themselves  wlieu  ha  examines  them  in  himself. — 
That  eviiwith  its  falsity  and  good  with  its  truth  cannot 
exist  simultaneously  in  man's  interiors,  may  be  seen  by 
the  rational  man  without  explanation ;  for  evil  is  the 
opposite  of  good,  and  good  of  evil ;  and  two  opposites 
cannot  exist  together.  Moreover,  in  all  evil  there  is 
inherent  a  hatred  of  good,  and  in  all  good  there  is 
inherent  a  love  of  protecting  itself  against  evil,  and  of 


AX  IRREPRESSIBLE  CO.VFLICT. 


207 


removing  evil  from  itself ;  from  which  it  follows  that 
one  cannot  exist  simultaueoiisly  with  the  other  ;  and  if 
they  were  to  do  so  there  wouUl  arise,  fii-st  conflict  and 
warfare,  and  then  destruction,  as  the  Lord  also  teaches 
in  Matt.  xii.  25-30 ;  Matt.  vi.  24. 

Two  opposites  cannot  exist  simultaneously  in  one 
substance  or  form  without  its  being  torn  asunder  and 
destroyed;  if  one  sliould  approach  and  come  near  to 
the  other,  they  would  necessarily  separate  like  two  ene- 
mies ;  one  of  whom  would  keep  himself  within  iiis 
camps  or  fortifications,  and  the  other  would  keep  witli- 
out.  So  is  it  with  evil  and  good  in  a  hypocrite.  He 
is  in  both  ;  but  the  evil  is  within  him,  and  the  good 
without;  and  so  the  two  are  separated  and  not  com- 
mingled. From  this  it  is  now  obvious  that  evil  with 
its  falsity  and  good  with  its  truth,  cannot  exist  to- 
gether. 

2d.  Good  and  its  truth  cannot  he  introduced  by  the 
Lord  into  man's  interiors,  except  so  far  as  evil  and  its 
fakity  are  removed.  This  is  a  direct  consequence  of  the 
foregoing ;  for  since  evil  and  good  cannot  exist  together, 
good  cannot  be  introduced  before  evil  is  removed.  The 
expression,  man's  interiors,  is  used  ;  by  which  is  meant 
the  internal  of  thought;  the  subject  is  these  interiors 
in  which  either  the  Lord  or  the  devil  must  necessarily 
be.  The  Lord  is  there  after  reformation,  and  the  devil 
is  there  before ;  and  thus,  so  far  as  man  suffers  himself 
to  be  reformed,  so  far  the  devil  is  cast  out;  while  so 
fur  as  he  does  not  suffer  himself  to  be  reformed,  the 


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THE  SWEDENBORO  LIBRARY. 


devil  remains.  Who  cannot  see  tliat  the  Lord  cannot 
enter  so  long  as  the  devil  is  there?  And  he  is  there 
so  long  as  man  keeps  the  door  closed  whereby  he  com- 
municates with  the  Lord.  That  the  Lord  enters  when 
that  door  is  opened  by  man's  instrumentality,  He 
teaches  in  Rev.  iii.  20.  The  door  is  opened  by  man's 
removing  evil,  shunning  it,  and  holdiug  it  in  aversion 
as  infernal  and  diabolical ;  for  whether  we  say  evil  or 
the  devil,  it  is  the  same  ;  and  on  tlie  other  hand,  whether 
we  say  Good  or  the  Lord,  it  is  the  same ;  for  the  Lord 
is  interiorly  in  all  good,  and  the  devil  is  interiorly  in 
all  evil.    The  truth  of  this  matter  is  therefore  plain. 

3d.  If  the  good  with  its  truth  were  introduced  sooner 
or  f  urther  than  evil  with  its  falsity  is  removed,  man  would 
recede  from  the  good  and  return  to  his  evil.  This  is  be- 
cause evil  would  be  the  stronger,  and  the  stronger  con- 
quers ;  if  not  at  first,  yet  afterwards.  So  long  as  evil 
is  the  stronger,  good  cannot  be  introduced  into  the  in- 
most" recesses,  but  only  into  the  outer  court,  since,  as 
before  said,  evil  and  good  caunot  exist  together ;  and 
that  which  is  in  the  outer  court  only  is  removed  by  the 
enemy  who  occupies  the  recesses ;  the  consequence  is, 
a  withdrawal  from  good  and  a  return  to  evil,  which  is 
the  worst  kind  of  profanation. 

Moreover,  the  very  delight  of  man's  life  is  to  love 
himself  and  the  world  above  all  things ;  this  delight 
caunot  be  removed  in  a  moment,  but  gradually^  and  so 
far  as  anything  of  tliis  delight  remains  in  man,  so  far 
evil  is  there  the  stronger.    And  in  order  for  this  evil 


GOOD  SHOULD  FORM  THE  HEAD.  209 


to  be  removed,  self-love  must  become  the  love  of  use/ 
and  the  love  of  rule  must  exist,  not  for  the  sake  of  self 
but  of  use ;  for  thus  use  forms  the  head,  and  the  love 
of  self  or  rule  forms,  first  the  body  beneath  the  head, 
and  then  the  feet  on  which  it  walks.  Who  does  not 
see  that  good  must  form  the  head,  and  that  when  it 
does  so,  the  Lord  is  there?  Good  and  use  are  one. 
Who  does  not  see  that  if  evil  forms  the  head,  the  devil 
is  there  ?  And  as  moral  and  civil  good  and  in  external 
form  spiritual  good  also,  must  still  be  received,  that 
they  then  form  the  feet  and  the  soles,  and  are  walked 
upon  ?  Since  therefore  the  state  of  man's  life  must  be 
reversed,  so  that  what  is  above  is  placed  below,  and 
this  reversal  cannot  be  effected  in  a  moment  —  for  the 
veriest  delight  of  life,  which  arises  from  selt-love  and 
the  consequent  love  of  dominion,  cannot  be  diminished 
and  turned  into  the  love  of  use,  except  gradually  — 
therefore  good  cannot  be  introduced  by  the  Lord  sooner 
or  further  than  this  evil  is  removed ;  if  it  were,  man 
^  would  withdraw  from  good,  and  return  to  his  evil. 

4th.  While  man  is  in  evil  mcuti/ truth  nicaj  be  intro- 
duced into  his  understanding,  and  stored  in  Aw  memory, 
and  yet  not  be  profaned.  This  is  because  the  under- 
standing does  not  flow  into  the  will,  but  the  will  into 
the  understanding ;  and  therefore  many  truths  may  be 
received  by  the  understanding,  and  stored  in  the  memory, 
and  yet  not  be  commingled  with  the  evil  of  the  will, 
and  so'  what  is  holy  not  be  profaned. — While  truths 
occupy  the  understanding  only,  and  from  it  the  memory, 
18*  O 


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THE  SWEDENUORG  LfBnARY. 


they  are  uot  within  the  mau,  but  without.  Man's 
memory  may  be  compared  to  the  rurainatory  stomach 
of  certain  animals,  into  which  tliey  put  their  food  ; 
which,  while  it  is  there,  is  not  within  their  bodies,  but 
without ;  yet  when  they  draw  the  food  out  of  this  stom- 
ach and  eat  it,  it  becomes  part  of  their  life,  and  nour- 
ishes the  body.  But  in  man's  memory  there  is  not 
material  but  spiritual  food,  which  means  truths,  and  is 
in  itself  knowledge.  So  far  as  man  by  thought,  as  if 
by  rumination,  draws  those  truths  from  the  memory, 
his  spiritual  mind  is  nourished.  The  will's  love  is  what 
desires  and  has  a  sort  of  appetite  for  them,  and  causes 
them  to  be  drawn  forth  and  to  give  nourishment.  If 
that  love  is  evil,  it  desires  and  as  it  were  has  an  appe- 
tite for  what  is  unclean  ;  but  if  good,  it  desires  and  as 
it  were  has  an  appetite  for  what  is  clean,  and  it  sepa- 
rates, removes  and  expels  what  does  not  agree  with  it, 
which  is  effected  in  various  ways. 

5th.  But  the  Lord  by  his  Divhie  Providence  is  espe- 
cially watchful,  lest  these  truths  should  be  received  by  the 
will  sooner  or  further  than  man  removes,  as  of  himself,  the 
evil  in  the  external  man.  For  what  is  i-eceived  by  the 
will  cuter.s  into  the  man,  and  is  ap2)ropriated  by  him 
and  becomes  a  part  of  his  life.  And  in  man's  real  life 
which  is  from  the  will,  evil  and  good  cannot  exist  to- 
gether ;  for  thus  he  would  be  destroyed  ;  but  in  the 
understanding  both  can  exist,  being  there  called  the 
falsities  of  evil  or  the  truths  of  good.  But  they  are 
there  distinguished  and  separated  like  a  house  into  inte- 


FALSIFICATfOX  OF  TRVTfl. 


211 


rior  and  exterior.  When  a  wicked  man  thinks  and 
says  what  is  good,  he  thinks  and  speaks  exteriorly  ; 
and  when  what  is  evil,  interiorly ;  therefore  when  he 
says  what  is  good,  his  conversation  is  from  the  wall 
[of  the  house],  as  it  were,  and  may  be  compared  to 
fruit  superficially  beautiful,  which  is  inwardly  wormy 
and  rotten  ;  and  also  to  the  shell  of  a  dragon's  egg. 

6th.  If  they  were  to  be  received  sooner-  and  further,  then 
the  will  would  adulterate  the  good,  and  the  understanding 
u'oidd  fahijij  the  truth,  by  commingling  themicith  evils  and 
their  falsities.  When  the  will  is  in  evil,  then  it  adulter- 
ates good  in  the  understanding  ;  and  good  adulterated 
in  the  understanding  is  evil  in  the  will ;  for  the  latter 
confirms  [man  in  the  belief]  that  evil  is  good,  and  vice 
versa.  Evil  does  this  with  all  good  which  is  opposed 
to  itself.  Evil  also  falsifies  truth,  because  the  truth  of 
good  is  opposed  to  the  falsity  of  evil :  this  also  the  will 
does  in  the  understanding,  and  not  the  understanding 
from  itself.  Adulterations  of  good  are  in  the  Word 
described  by  adulteries,  and  falsifications  of  truth  by 
fornication.  These  adulterations  and  falsifications  are 
effected  by  reasonings  from  the  natural  man  who  is  in 
evil,  and  also  by  confirmations  drawn  from  appear- 
ances in  the  literal  sense  of  the  Word.  Self-love,  which 
is  the  source  of  all  evils,  surpasses  all  other  loves  in  its 
ingenuity  to  adulterate  good  and  falsify  truth  ;  and  this 
it  does  by  the  abuse  of  the  rationality  which  every  man 
—  the  wicked  as  well  as  the  good  —  possesses  from  the 
Lord ;  nay,  it  can  by  confirmations  make  evil  look  pre- 


212  THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


cisely  like  good,  and  falsity  like  truth.  What  can  it 
not  do,  wlien  it  can  prove  by  a  thousand  arguments 
that  nature  created  herself,  and  then  created  men,  ani- 
mals and  plants  of  all  kinds  ;  also  that  by  influx  from 
her  interior  self  she  causes  men  to  live,  to  think  ana- 
lytically, and  to  understand  wisely  ?  —  Because  this  love 
is  of  such  a  character,  and  still  excels  in  the  ingenuity 
to  confirm  whatever  it  pleases,  therefore  it  can  with 
similar  ingenuity  adulterate  the  good  of  the  Word,  and 
falsify  its  truths,  while  from  some  necessity  it  is  con- 
strained to  profess  belief  in  them. 

7th.  Therefore  the  Lord  does  not  admit  man  interiorly 
into  the  truth  of  wisdom  and  the  good  of  love,  except  so 
far  as  he  can  be  kept  in  them  until  the  end  of  life.  The 
Lord  thus  restrains  man  lest  he  should  fall  into  that 
most  grievous  kind  of  profanation  of  what  is  holy.  On 
account  of  this  danger  He  also  pernuts  evils  of  life, 
and  many  heresies  in  worship. 


XIII. 

LAWS  OF  PERMISSION  ARE  ALSO  LAWS  OF  THE 
DIVINE  PROVIDENCE. 

SHERE  are  no  laws  of  permission  considered 
r|  in  themselves  or  apart  from  the  laws  of 
^  Divine  Providence,  but  they  are  the  same. 
^  Therefore  God  is  said  to  permit,  which  does 
not  mean  that  He  wills,  but  that  He  cannot  prevent,  on 
account  of  the  end  which  is  salvation.  Whatever  is 
done  for  the  sake  of  this  end  is  according  to  the  laws 
of  Divine  Providence.  For  the  Divine  Providence  acts 
constantly  in  a  direction  differing  from  and  opposed  to 
man's  will,  aiming  continually  at  the  end.  Therefore 
at  every  moment  of  its  operation,  or  at  every  step  of 
its  progress,  where  it  observes  man  swerving  from  the 
end,  it  directs,  bends  and  disposes  him  according  to 
its  own  laws,  by  leading  him  away  from  evil  and  to- 
wards good.  That  this  cannot  be  done  without  the 
permission  of  evil,  will  be  seen  in  what  follows.  More- 
over, nothing  can  be  permitted  without  a  reason,  and 
the  reason  can  only  be  found  in  some  law  of  Divine 
Providence,  which  law  teaclies  why  it  is  permitted. — 

We  will  now  enumerate  some  things  which  take  place 
by  permission,  and  are  yet  according  to  the  laws  of 

213 


214 


THE  SWEDENBOna  LIBRARY. 


Divine  Providence,  and  by  winch  the  merely  natural 
man  confirms  himself  in  favor  of  nature  against  God, 
and  in  favor  of  human  prudence  against  a  Divine 
Providence.  As,  for  example,  when  he  reads  in  the 
Word :  - 

I. —  Tliat  the  wisest  of  mankind,  Admn  and  his  wife,  sitf. 
fered  themselves  to  he  seduced  by  a  serpent,  and  God  by  his 
Divine  Providence  did  not  prevent  it.  By  Adam  and  his 
wife  are  not  meant  the  first  of  all  mankind  that  were 
created  in  this  world,  but  the  men  of  the  most  ancient 
church,  the  re-creation  or  regeneration  of  whom  is  so 
described, —  their  re-creation  or  regeneration  itself  in 
the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  by  the  creation  of  heaven 
and  earth  ;  their  wisdom  and  intelligence  by  the  garden 
of  Eden  :  and  the  end  of  that  church  by  their  eating  of 
the  tree  of  knowledge.  For  the  Word  in  its  depths  is 
spiritual,  containing  arcana  of  Divine  Wisdom  ;  and  in 
order  that  these  arcana  may  be  contained  therein,  it 
is  written  by  mere  correspondences  and  representatives. 
From  which  it  is  obvious  that  the  men  of  that  church, 
who  in  the  beginning  were  the  wisest  of  men,  and  at  last, 
from  j^ride  in  their  own  intelligence,  the  worst,  \vere  not 
seduced  by  any  serpent,  but  by  self-love,  which  is  there 
the  serpent's  head  that  the  seed  of  the  woman,  that  is, 
the  Lord,  should  bruise.  Who  cannot  see  from  reason 
that  other  things  are  meant  there  than  those  histor- 
ically related  in  the  letter  ?  For  who  can  comprehend 
the  possibility  of  the  creation  of  the  world  as  there  de- 
scribed ?    Therefore  the  learned  labor  to  explain  the 


FIRST  CHAPTER  OF  GENESIS.  215 


contents  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  and  at  last 
confess  that  they  do  not  understand  it. 

Then  that  two  trees,  one  of  life  and  one  of  knowledge, 
were  placed  in  their  garden  or  paradise,  and  this  for  a 
stumbling-block  ;  as  also,  that,  by  merely  eating  of  one 
of  these  trees,  Adam  and  Eve  so  far  transgressed  that 
not  only  they,  but  also  the  whole  human  race  their 
posterity,  became  subject  to  damnation  ;  and  again, 
that  any  serpent  could  have  seduced  them  ;  besides 
other  statements  there  made,  as  that  the  wife  was 
created  out  of  a  rib  of  the  husband  ;  that  they  ac- 
knowledged their  nakedness  after  the  fall,  and  covered 
it  with  fig-leaves ;  and  that  coats  of  skin  were  given 
them  to  cover  their  bodies ;  and  that  cherubim  were 
placed  with  a  flaming  sword  to  guard  the  way  to  the 
tree  of  life.  All  these  statements  are  rejjresentative, 
and  describe  the  establishment  of  the  most  ancient 
church,  its  states  and  changes,  and  finally  its  destruc- 
tion. The  tree  of  life  there  means  the  Lord  as  to  his 
Divine  Providence,  and  the  tree  of  knowledge,  man  as 
to  his  own  prudence. 

II. —  Tliat  their  first  son  Cain  killed  his  brother  Abel, 
and  God  did  not  then  withhold  him  by  speaking  to  him, 
but  only  after  the  deed  by  cursing  him.  Since  Adam  and 
his  wife  mean  the  most  ancient  church,  therefore  Cain 
and  Abel,  their  first  sous,  mean  the  two  essentials  of  the 
church,  which  are  love  and  wisdom,  or  charity  and  faith, 
—  by  Abel,  love  or  charity,  and  by  Cain,  wisdom  or 
faith,  more  particularly,  wisdom  separate  from  love,  or 


216  THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


faith  separate  from  charity ;  and  wisdom  or  faith  so 
separate  is  of  such  a  character  as  not  only  to  reject  love 
or  charity,  but  also  to  annihilate  it,  and  so  to  slay  their 
brother.  The  cursing  of  Cain  involves  the  spiritual 
state  into  which  they  enter  after  death,  who  separate 
faith  from  charity,  or  wisdom  from  love.  But  lest 
wisdom  or  faith  should  therefore  perish,  a  mark  was 
put  upon  Cain  lest  he  should  be  slain;  for  love  is  im- 
possible without  wisdom,  and  charity  without  faith.— 
Moreover,  they  who  are  in  faith  separate  from  charity 
are  in  self  derived  intelligence ;  while  they  who  are  in 
charity  and  therefore  in  faith,  are  in  intelligence  from 
the  Lord,  therefore  in  [the  current  of]  the  Divine  Prov- 
idence. 

III. —  That  the  Israelitish  nation  worshiped  a  golden 
calf  in  the  wilderness,  and  acknowledged  it  as  the  God 
that  led  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt;  when  yet  Jehovah 
saiv  this  from  Mount  Si'iiai  near  at  hand,  and  did  not 
guard  against  it.  This  took  place  in  the  wilderness  of 
Sinai  near  the  mount.  That  Jehovah  did  not  withhold 
them  from  that  abominable  worship,  is  according  to  all 
the  laws  of  the  Divine  Providence  hitherto  set  forth,  and 
also  according  to  those  which  follow.  This  evil  was 
permitted  them  lest  tliey  should  all  perish ;  for  the 
children  of  Israel  were  led  out  of  Egypt  in  order  that 
they  might  represent  the  Lord's  church  ;  and  this  they 
could  not  represent  unless  the  Egyptian  idolatry  were 
first  eradicated  from  their  hearts ;  and  this  could  not 
be  done  if  they  had  not  been  left  to  act  according  to 


END  OF  DIVINE  PERMISSIONS.  217 


what  was  in  their  hearts,  and  so  to  have  it  removed  by 
severe  punishment. — 

IV.  —  That  David  numbered  the  people,  and  therefore 
a  plague  was  sent,  by  tvhich  so  many  thousands  of  men 
perished,  and  God,  not  before,  but  after  the  deed,  sent 
Gad  the  prophet  to  him,  and  denounced  punishment  upon 
him.  He  who  confirms  himself  against  the  Divine 
Providence  may  think  and  query  about  this  also  in 
many  ways,  especially  as  to  wliy  David  was  not  ad- 
monished previously,  and  why  the  people  were  so  se- 
verely punished  on  account  of  the  transgression  of  the 
king.  His  not  being  previously  admonished  is  accord- 
ing to  the  laws  of  the  Divine  Providence  heretofore 
pointed  out.  The  punishing  of  the  people  so  severely 
on  account  of  the  transgression  of  the  king,  and  the 
smiting  of  seventy  thousand  with  the  plague,  was  not 
on  the  king's  account,  but  on  that  of  the  people ;  for 
we  read:  "The  anger  of  the  Lord  was  kindled  against 
Israel,  and  he  moved  David  against  them  to  say,  Go, 
number  Israel  and  Judah."    2  Sam.  xxiv.  1. 

V.  —  TJiat  Solomon  was  permitted  to  ednbli^h  idolatrous 
worship.  This  was  done  in  order  that  he  might  repre- 
sent the  Lord's  kingdom  or  church,  together  with  all 
the  religions  in  the  world.  For  the  church  established 
with  the  Israelitish  and  Judaic  nation  was  a  representa- 
tive church  ;  therefore  all  its  judgments  and  statutes 
represented  the  spiritual  things  of  the  church,  which 
are  its  internals.  Tlie  people  themselves  represented 
tlie  church,  their  king  the  Ijord  —  David,  the  Lord 

19 


218 


THE  SWEDEXDORG  LIBRARY. 


who  was  to  come  into  the  world,  and  Solomon,  the 
Lord  after  his  advent.  And  because  the  Lord  after 
his  glorification  had  all  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth, 
therefore  his  representative,  Solomon,  appeared  in  glory 
and  magnificence,  and  possessed  wisdom  above  all  the 
kings  of  the  earth,  and  also  built  the  temple.  And 
finally,  he  permitted  and  established  the  modes  of  wor- 
ship of  several  nations,  by  which  modes  of  worship  the 
various  i-eligions  in  the  world  were  represented.  Simi- 
lar was  the  significance  of  his  wives,  who  were  seven 
hundred  in  number,  and  of  his  concubines,  who  were 
three  hundred  ;  (1  Kings  xi.  3 :)  for  a  wife  iu  the  Word 
signifies  a  church,  and  a  concubine,  a  religion.  From 
this  it  will  appear  why  it  was  granted  Solomon  to  build 
the  temple,  which  signified  the  Lord's  Divine  Humanity 
(John  ii.  19,  21)  and  also  the  church;  also  why  he  was 
jiermitted  to  establish  idolatrous  worship,  and  to  marry 
so  many  waives.  David,  in  many  places  in  the  Word, 
means  the  Lord  who  was  to  come  into  the  world,  as  may 
be  seen  in  the  New  Church  Doctrine  of  the  Lord,  n. 
43,  44. 

VI. —  That  many  kings  after  Solomon  were  permitted 
to  profane  the  temple  and  the  holy  things  of  the  church. 
This  was  because  the  people  re|)resented  the  church, 
and  the  king  their  head  ;  and  as  the  Israelitish  and 
Judaic  nation  was  of  such  a  character  that  they  could 
not  long  represent  the  church  (for  they  were  in  heart 
idolatrous),  they  gradually  fell  away  from  representa- 
tive worship,  by  perverting  all  things  belonging  to  the 


■<ELF-  WOBSUirERS 


219 


church,  to  such  au  extent  as  to  devastate  it.  This  is 
represeuted  by  the  profanations  of  the  temple  by  the 
kings,  and  by  their  idohitries  —  the  actual  devastation 
of  the  church  by  the  destruction  of  the  temple  itself, 
by  the  carrying  away  of  the  Israelitish  people,  and  by 
the  captivity  of  the  Judaic  people  in  Babylonia.  This 
was  the  cause;  and  whatever  takes  place  from  any 
cause,  takes  place  from  the  Divine  Providence  ac- 
cording to  some  law  thereof. 

VII. —  Tliat  that  nation  ivas  permitted  to  crucify  the 
Lord.  This  was  because  the  church  in  that  nation  was 
totally  devastated,  and  had  become  such  as  not  only 
not  to  know  and  acknowledge  the  Lord,  but  even  to 
hold  him  in  hatred.  Yet  all  that  they  did  to  Him  was 
according  to  the  laws  of  his  Divine  Providence.  The 
passion  of  the  cross  was  the  last  temptation  or  the  last 
conflict,  by  which  the  Lord  completely  conquered  the 
hells  and  fully  glorified  his  Humanity. — 

I.  TJiat  every  wornhiper  of  self  and  nature  confinns 
himself  againd  the  Divine  Providence  when  he  sees  in  the 
world  so  man y  impious  persons,  and  so  many  of  their  im- 
pieties, and  at  the  same  time  sees  some  glorying  in  them, 
and  yet  receiving  no  punishment  from  God.  All  impie- 
ties, and  also  all  glorying  therein,  are  permissions,  the 
causes  of  which  are  laws  of  the  Divine  Providence. 
Any  man  may  freely,  nay,  most  freely,  think  what  he 
will  against  God  or  for  Him  alike;  and  he  who  thinks 
against  God  is  rarely  punished  in  the  natural  world, 
because  there  he  is  always  iu  a  state  to  be  reformed  ; 


220 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIJinAUY. 


but  he  is  punished  iu  the  spiritual  world  after  death ; 
for  theu  he  can  no  longer  be  reformed.  That  the  causes 
of  permission  are  the  laws  of  the  Divine  Providence, 
is  plain  from  its  laws  above  set  forth. —  These  laws,  if 
summed  up,  may  make  manifest  the  reason  why  the 
Lord  permits  impieties,  and  why  they  are  not  punished 
when  existing  in  thought  only,  and  rarely  even  when 
they  exist  in  intention,  and  thus  even  in  the  will,  and 
not  in  deed.  Yet  every  evil  is  followed  by  its  punish- 
ment ;  it  is  as  if  upon  evil  were  inscribed  its  own  pun- 
ishment which  the  sinner  undergoes  after  death. 

That  the  worshiper  of  self  and  nature  confirms  himself 
still  more  againM  «  Divine  Providence,  when  he  sees  that 
plots  and  cuiiniiig  and  deception  are  successfid,  even 
against  the  pious,  Just  and  sincere;  and  that  injustice 
triumphs  over  justice  in  law  and  business.  All  the  laws 
of  the  Divine  Providence  are  necessities ;  and  as  they 
are  the  causes  why  such  things  are  permitted,  it  is  plain 
that  for  man  to  be  able  to  live  as  a  man,  to  be  reformed 
and  saved,  such  things  cannot  be  removed  from  him  by 
the  Lord,  except  mediately  by  the  Word,  and  particu- 
larly by  the  precepts  of  the  decalogue  with  those  who 
acknowledge  that  all  kinds  of  murder,  adultery,  theft 
and  false  witness  are  sins ;  while  with  those  who  do  not 
acknowledge  that  such  things  are  sins,  they  are  to  be 
removed  mediately  by  civil  laws  and  the  fear  of  their 
punishment ;  also  mediately  by  moral  laws  and  the  fear 
of  loss  of  reputation,  and  thereby  of  honor  and  wealth. 
By  these  means  the  Lord  leads  the  wicked ;  but  leads 


CONFIRMATION  AGAINST  PROVIDENCE.  221 


them  away  from  the  doing  of  such  things  only,  uot  from 
thinking  of  and  desiring  them  ;  while  by  the  former 
means  the  Lord  leads  the  good,  uot  only  away  from 
doing  such  things,  but  also  from  thinking  of  or  desiring 
them. 

II.  That  the  wonhipcr  of  self  and  nature  cov firms  him- 
self against  the  Divine  Providence  when  he  sees  the  impious 
exalted  to  honors,  and  becoming  grout  men  and  leaders, 
also  abounding  in  wealth  and  living  in  elegance  and  mag- 
nificence, and  sees  the  worshipers  of  God  in  contempt  and 
poverty.  The  worshiper  of  self  and  nature  believes  dig- 
nities and  possessions  to  be  the  highest  and  only  happi- 
ness that  can  be  given,  thus  happiness  itself;  and  if  he 
thinks  at  all  of  God  from  the  worship  implanted  in  him 
in  infancy,  he  calls  them  Divine  blessings.  And  so  long 
as,  from  these  possessions  and  honors,  he  aspires  no 
higher,  he  thinks  that  God  is,  and  also  worsliips  Him. 
But  in  his  worship  there  is  concealed  that  of  which  he 
himself  is  ignorant,  viz.,  [a  hope]  that  he  will  be  ex- 
alted by  God  to  still  higher  dignities  and  to  still  larger 
possessions;  and  if  he  obtains  them  his  worship  becomes 
more  and  more  external,  until  it  ceases  wholly,  and  he 
thinks  little  of  God  and  denies  Him.  He  does  the  same 
if  he  falls  from  the  dignity  and  opulence  upon  which  he 
had  .set  his  heart.  What  are  dignities  and  possessions, 
therefore,  but  stumbling-blocks  to  the  wicked  ;  though 
they  are  not  such  to  the  good,  because  they  do  not  set 
their  hearts  upon  them,  but  upon  the  use  —  to  promote 
which,  dignities  and  possessions  are  subservient  as 
19* 


222 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LinRARY. 


means.  Therefore,  by  the  fact  that  the  impious  are  ex- 
alted to  honors  and  possessions,  and  become  great  men 
and  leaders,  none  but  he  who  worships  self  and  nature 
can  confirm  himself  against  the  Divine  Providence. 

Moreover,  what  is  greater  or  less  dignity?  or  more  or 
less  opulence?  Is  it  in  itself  aught  but  an  imaginary 
thing  ?  Is  a  man  in  one  case  more  fortunate  and  happy 
than  in  another?  Is  dignity  by  great  men,  or  even  by' 
kings  and  emperors,  after  a  year's  [enjoyment  of  it], 
regarded  except  as  a  very  common  thing  which  no 
longer  fills  their  hearts  with  joy,  and  which  may  even 
grow  contemptible  in  their  sight  ?  Do  they  by  their 
dignities  enjoy  a  greater  degree  of  happiness  than  those 
who  have  less  dignity,  nay,  w  Ikj  liave  the  least,  as  farmers 
and  their  servants?  Tlie  latter  may  enjoy  the  greater 
degree  of  happiness  when  it  is  well  with  them,  and  they 
are  contented  with  their  lot.  What  is  more  unquiet  at 
heart,  what  more  frequently  impatient,  what  rages  more 
fiercely,  than  self-love?  and  this  as  often  as  it  is  not 
honored  according  to  the  pride  of  its  heart,  or  as  any- 
thing does  not  succeed  according  to  its  wish  and  whim. 
What  is  dignity,  therefore,  but  an  idea,  unless  it  per- 
tains to  some  work  or  use?  Can  such  an  idea  exist  in 
any  thought  except  what  is  directed  to  self  and  the 
world,  and  that  inherently  esteeming  the  world  as 
everything,  and  what  is  eternal  as  nothing? 

We  will  now  speak  briefly  of  the  Divine  Providence, 
and  why  it  permits  the  impious  in  heart  to  be  exalted 
to  dignity  and  enriched  with  possessions. 


rnovwENCE  uses  the  wicked.  223 


The  wicked  can  be  equally  as  useful  as  the  good  ; 
nay,  with  a  more  ardent  zeal,  for  they  regard  them- 
selves in  use,  and  [their  own]  lionor  as  use.  Therefore 
to  whatever  height  selflove  ascends,  the  lust  to  be 
useful  for  the  sake  of  its  own  glory  is  proportionately 
enkindled.    Such  burning  zeal  does  not  exist  with  the 
pious  or  good,  unless  secretly  inflamed  by  honor.  There- 
fore the  Lord  governs  the  impious  in  heart  who  are  in 
the  possession  of  dignities  by  the  glory  of  a  name,  and 
thereby  stimulates  them  to  be  of  use  to  the  public  or 
to  their  country,  to  the  community  or  state,  to  which 
they  belong,  and  also  to  their  fellow-citizen  or  neighbor. 
With  such,  this  is  the  Lord's  government  which  is 
called  the  Divine  Providence ;  for  the  Lord's  kingdom 
is  a  kingdom  of  Uses;  and  where  there  exist  but  few 
who  are  useful  for  the  sake  of  use.  He  causes  the  wor- 
shipers of  self  to  be  exalted  to  the  higher  offices,  where 
each  is  stimulated  to  do  good  by  his  own  love.  Suppose 
an  infernal  kingdom  in  the  world  (although  none  such 
exists),  where  none  but  selfish  loves  bear  rule,  would  not 
every  one  there  be  useful  more  than  in  any  other  king- 
dom, because  inflamed  by  self-love  and  the  splendor  of 
his  own  glory?    The  public  good  would  there  be  in 
every  mouth,  and  his  own  good  in  every  one's  heart ; 
and  as  every  one  would  look  to  his  chief,  in  order  that 
he  himself  might  become  greater  (for  each  would  aspire 
to  be  greatest),  could  such  men  see  that  there  is  a  God  ? 
There  is  a  smoke  like  that  of  a  conflagration  surround- 
in^  ihem,  through  which  no  spiritual  truth  in  its  own 


224 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


light  can  penetrate.  I  have  seen  that  smoke  about  the 
hells  of  such.  Light  your  lamp  and  search,  [and  sec] 
how  many  there  are  in  the  kingdoms  of  to-day  who 
aspire  to  dignities,  who  are  not  mere  lovers  of  self  and 
the  world.  Will  you  find  among  a  thousand  of  them 
fifty  who  are  lovers  of  God  ?  And  among  these  there 
are  but  few  who  aspire  to  dignities. 

Since  therefore  the  lovers  of  God  are  so  few  in 
number,  and  the  lovers  of  self  and  the  world  so  many; 
and  since  the  latter,  being  inflamed  by  their  loves,  are 
more  useful  than  the  former  from  their's :  how  can  any 
one  thereby  confirm  [the  belief  ]  that  the  wicked  enjoy 
eminence  and  opulence  more  than  the  good  ?  This, 
moreover,  is  confirmed  by  the  Lord's  words  in  Luke 
xvi.  8,  9. 

III.  That  the  worshiper  of  self  and  nature  also  coii- 
Jirms  himself  against  a  Divine  Providence  when  he  reflects 
that  wars  are  permitted,  and  the  consequent  slaughter  of  so 
many  men  and  the  plundering  of  their  wealth.  It  is  not 
from  the  Divine  Providence  that  wars  exist,  because 
they  are  connected  with  murders,  depredations,  vio- 
lence, cruelty,  and  other  terrible  evils  which  are  dia- 
metrically opposed  to  Christian  charity.  Yet  it  is 
impossible  that  they  should  not  be  permitted,  because 
man's  life's  love,  since  the  time  of  the  most  ancient 
people  meant  by  Adam  and  his  wife,  has  become  of  such 
a  nature  as  to  desire  to  rule  over  others,  and  at  length 
over  all,  and  finally  to  possess  all  the  wealth  of  the 
world.    These  two  loves  cannot  be  kept  within  bounds, 


WHY  P1!0VIDE.\'CE  PERMITS  WARS.  225 


since  it  is  according  to  the  Divine  Providence  that 
every  one  should  be  allowed  to  act  from  freedom  ac- 
cording to  reason  ;  and  since  without  permissions  man 
cannot  be  led  from  evil  by  the  Lord,  and  so  cannot  be 
reformed  and  saved  ;  for  unless  evils  were  permitted  to 
break  out,  man  would  not  see  them,  and  so  would  not 
acknowledge  them,  and  therefore  could  not  be  led  to 
resist  them.  Therefore  it  is  that  evils  cannot  be  re- 
pressed by  any  [interference  of]  Providence  ;  for  they 
would  in  that  case  remain  shut  in,  and  like  the  dis- 
eases called  cancer  and  gangrene,  would  spread  and 
consume  all  that  is  vital  in  man.  For  man  is  by  birth 
like  a  miniature  hell,  between  which  and  heaven  there 
is  perpetual  variance.  No  man  can  be  withdrawn  from 
his  hell  by  the  Lord,  unless  he  sees  that  he  is  there  and 
wishes  to  be  taken  out;  and  this  cannot  be  done  with- 
out permissions,  the  causes  of  which  are  laws  of  the 
Divine  Providence.  For  this  reason  there  are  lesser 
and  greater  wars  —  the  lesser  between  possessors  of 
estates  and  their  neighbors,  and  the  greater  between 
the  monarchs  of  kingdoms  and  their  neighbors ;  whether 
lesser  or  greater  makes  no  difference,  except  that  the 
lesser  are  kept  within  bounds  by  the  laws  of  the  nation, 
and  the  greater  by  the  laws  of  nations ;  and  that  both 
wish  to  transgress  their  laws,  but  the  lesser  cannot,  and 
the  greater  can  ;  yet  not  beyond  [tlie  limits  of]  possi- 
bility. 

There  are  many  causes  which  lie  bidden  in  the 
treasurj'  of  Divine  Wisdom,  why  the  greater  wars, 
P 


226 


THE  SWEDEyiSOnO  LIBRARY. 


beiug  connected  with  murders,  depredations,  violence 
and  cruelty,  are  not  restrained  by  the  Lord  through  the 
kings  and  leaders  ;  neither  at  their  commencement  nor 
during  their  progress,  but  only  at  their  close,  when  the 
power  of  either  one  or  the  other  has  been  rendered  so 
insecure  that  he  is  in  danger  of  destruction.  Some  of 
these  causes  have  been  revealed  to  me,  and  among  thera 
this :  that  all  wars,  however  political  in  character,  are 
representative  of  the  states  of  the  church  in  heaven, 
and  are  correspondences.  Such  were  all  the  wars  de- 
scribed in  the  Word,  and  such  also  are  all  wars  at  this 
day. —  But  the  character  of  the  church  on  earth,  and 
what  the  evils  are  into  which  it  falls,  and  for  which  it 
is  punished  by  wars,  cannot  be  known  at  all  in  the 
natural  world;  because  in  this  world  externals  only, 
which  do  not  constitute  the  church,  are  manifest ;  but 
it  may  be  seen  in  the  spiritual  world,  where  internals, 
in  which  is  the  real  church,  are  visible;  and  there  all 
are  united  according  to  their  various  states.  The  con- 
flicts between  these  states  in  the  spiritual  world  corre- 
spond to  wars,  which  are  correspondingly  governed  by 
the  Lord  on  both  sides  according  to  his  Divine  Provi- 
dence. 

That  wars  in  the  world  are  governed  by  the  Divine 
Providence  the  .spiritual  man  acknowledges  ;  but  not 
the  natural  man,  except  when  a  feast  is  appointed  for 
a  victory ;  he  can  then  upon  his  knees  give  thanks  to 
God  for  having  given  the  victory,  and  may  also  [sup- 
plicate Him]  in  a  few  words  before  he  enters  the  battle. 


THE  FORTUNE  OF  WAR. 


227 


But  when  he  returns  into  himself,  he  either  ascribes  the 
victory  to  the  prudence  of  the  general,  or  to  some 
stratagem  or  occurrence  in  the  midst  of  the  battle,  of 
which  they  had  not  thought,  yet  from  which  came  the 
victory.  The  Divine  Providence  which  is  called  For- 
tune, is  in  the  most  minute  particulars  even  of  trivial 
things  ;  if  in  them  you  acknowledge  a  Divine  Provi- 
dence, you  must  by  all  means  acknowledge  it  in  the 
affairs  of  war.  Moreover,  the  successes  and  favorable 
results  of  war  are  commonly  called  the  Fortune  of  war; 
and  this  is  the  Divine  Providence,  especially  in  the 
counsels  and  preparations  of  the  general ;  although  he, 
both  then  and  afterwards,  might  ascribe  the  whole  of 
it  to  his  own  prudence.  But  this  he  may  do  if  he  will  ; 
for  he  is  in  perfect  liberty  to  think  in  favor  of  Divine 
Providence  or  against  it ;  nay,  even  in  favor  of  God  or 
against  Him.  But  let  him  know  that  not  the  least  share 
of  counsel  or  preparation  is  from  himself;  for  it  is  all 
influent  either  from  heaven  or  from  hell — from  hell 
by  permission,  and  from  heaven  by  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence. 

IV.  Thrd  the  worshiper  of  self  and  nature  confirms 
himself  against  a  Divine  Providence,  when  according  to 
his  perception  he  reflects  that  victory  is  on  the  side  of  pru- 
dence, and  sometimes  not  on  that  of  justice,  and  that  it 
makes  no  difference  whether  the  commander  is  an  upright 
man  or  not.  Victory  seems  to  be  on  the  side  of  pru- 
dence, and  sometimes  not  on  that  of  justice,  because 
man  judges  from  the  ap2)earance  and  favors  one  side 


228  THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 

more  than  another ;  and  what  he  favors  he  may  by 
reasonings  confirm.  Nor  does  he  know  that  the  justice 
of  a  cause  is  spiritual  in  heaven  and  natural  in  the 
world,  and  that  they  are  united  through  the  simul- 
taneous connection  of  things  past  and  future,  which 
are  known  to  the  Lord  alone.  It  makes  no  difference 
whether  the  general  is  an  upright  man  or  not.  The 
wicked  equally  with  the  good  are  useful,  and  from  their 
own  ardor,  more  zealously  so  than  the  good,  especially 
in  war;  because  a  wicked  man  is  more  skillful  and 
shrewd  in  constructing  snares,  and  from  the  love  of 
glory  more  delighted  to  slaughter  and  plunder  those 
whom  he  knows  or  declares  to  be  his  enemies,  than  a 
good  man ;  the  latter  is  prudent  and  zealous  to  defend, 
but  rarely  so  in  any  degree  to  attack.  It  is  the  same 
as  with  the  spirits  of  hell  and  the  angels  of  heaven ; 
the  former  attack,  the  latter  defend  themselves. 

From  all  this  comes  the  conclusion,  that  it  is  allowa- 
ble for  any  one  to  defend  his  country  and  his  compa- 
triots against  invading  enemies,  even  by  wicked  com- 
manders ;  but  not  to  make  himself  an  enemy  of  others 
without  cause.  A  cause  [assumed]  for  the  sake  of  mere 
glory  is  essentially  diabolical,  for  it  is  from  the  love  of 
self. 

There  is  now  to  be  explained  what  has  reference  to 
the  religions  of  various  nations,  and  may  also  serve  the 
merely  natural  man  as  arguments  against  a  Divine 
Providence ;  for  he  says  in  his  heart,  how  can  so  many 
c.iscordaut  religious  exist,  instead  of  there  being  one 


SA  L  VA  TION  IN  ALL  RELIGIONS.  229 


true  religion  over  all  the  earth,  when  Divine  Provi- 
dence has  for  its  end  a  heaven  from  the  human  race  ? 
But  I  pray  you  listen :  All  men  born,  however  many, 
of  whatever  religion,  may  be  saved,  provided  they  ac- 
knowledge a  God  and  live  according  to  the  precepts  of 
the  decalogue,  which  forbid  them  to  kill,  commit  adul- 
tery, steal  or  bear  false  witness ;  because  to  do  such 
things  is  contrary  to  religion,  and  so  contrary  to  God. 
With  such  there  is  the  fear  of  God  and  the  love  of  the 
neighbor:  —  the  fear  of  God,  because  they  think  that 
to  do  those  things  is  contrary  to  God ;  and  the  love  of 
the  neighbor,  because  they  think  that  murder,  adultery, 
theft,  bearing  false  witness,  and  coveting  the  neighbor's 
house  and  wife,  are  contrary  to  the  neighbor.  These, 
because  in  their  life  they  regard  God,  and  do  not  do 
evil  to  the  neighbor,  are  led  by  the  Lord ;  and  they 
who  are  led  by  Him,  are  also  taught,  according  to  their 
religion,  about  God  and  the  neighbor ;  for  they  who  so 
live,  love  to  be  taught,  while  they  who  live  otherwise 
do  not.  And  because  the  former  love  to  be  taught, 
after  death,  when  they  become  spirits,  they  also  are  in- 
structed by  the  angels,  and  freely  receive  truths  such 
as  are  in  the  Word. 

I. —  Tliat  the  merely  natural  man  confirms  himself 
agaiiist  a  Divine  Providence,  when  he  looks  at  the  religious 
condition  of  the  various  nations,  as  that  some  are  found 
who  are  totally  ignorant  of  God,  some  who  worship  the  sun 
and  moon,  and  some  also  who  worship  idoh  and  graven 
images.  They  who  from  these  facts  deduce  arguments 
20 


230 


THE  SWEDENBORO  LIBRARY. 


against  a  Divine  Providence  have  not  a  knowledge  of 
the  arcana  of  heaven,  which  are  innumerable,  and  of 
which  man  hardly  knows  one.  —  No  man  has  religion 
from  himself,  but  through  another,  who  has  either 
learned  by  himself,  or  by  communication  with  others, 
from  the  Word,  that  there  is  a  God,  a  heaven  and  a 
hell,  and  a  life  after  death,  and  that  he  must  worship 
God  in  order  to  become  happy.  Religion  was  trans- 
planted throughout  all  parts  of  the  world  from  the 
ancient  and  afterwards  from  the  Israelitish  Word:  and 
unless  there  had  been  a  Word,  no  one  would  have 
known  of  God,  heaven  and  hell,  and  life  after  death, 
much  less  of  the  Lord.  When  a  religion  is  once  im- 
planted [among  a  people],  that  people  is  led  by  the 
Lord  according  to  its  precepts  and  dogmas.  And  the 
Lord  provides  that  in  every  religion  there  may  be  pre- 
cepts, such  as  are  in  the  decalogue  ;  as  that  God  is  to  be 
worshiped ;  his  name  is  not  to  be  profaned  ;  sacred  days 
are  to  be  kept;  parents  are  to  be  honored;  murder, 
adultery  and  theft  not  to  be  committed,  nor  false  witness 
borne.  The  nation  which  regards  these  precepts  as 
divine,  and  lives  according  to  them  from  religion,  is 
saved.  Moreover,  the  majority  of  the  nations  remote 
from  Christendom  do  regard  them  not  as  civil  but  as 
divine  laws,  and  liold  them  sacred. 

Among  the  arcana  of  heaven  is  also  this:  that  the  an- 
gelic heaven  is  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  like  one  man, 
whose  soul  and  life  is  the  Lord ;  and  tliat  this  heavenly 
man  is  in  every  form  a  man,  not  only  as  to  its  external 


SALVATION  FOR  THE  HE  A  Til  EX. 


231 


members  and  organs,  but  also  as  to  its  internal  members 
and  organs  (which  are  more  numerous),  and  even  as  to 
its  skin,  membranes,  cartilages  and  bones ;  while  both 
the  latter  and  the  former  are  not  material  but  spiritual 
in  that  Man.  And  it  is  provided  by  the  Lord  that 
those  also  whom  the  gospel  could  not  reach,  but  a  re- 
ligion only,  may  also  liave  a  place  in  tliat  heavenly 
man,  that  is,  in  heaven,  by  constituting  the  parts  that 
are  called  the  skin,  membranes,  cartilages  and  bones; 
and  that  they  like  the  others  should  partake  of  heavenly 
joy.  For  it  matters  not  whether  their  joy  is  such  as 
belongs  to  the  angels  of  the  highest  heaven,  or  such  as 
belongs  to  the  angels  of  the  lowest  heaven  ;  since  every 
one  who  entere  heaven  enters  into  the  greatest  joy  of 
his  heart.  He  canuot  bear  a  greater  joy,  for  he  would 
thereby  be  suffocated.  The  case  is  comparatively  like 
that  of  a  farmer  and  a  king.  The  farmer  may  enjoy 
his  greatest  happiness  when  he  goes  clad  in  new  cloth- 
ing made  of  plain  wool,  and  sits  down  to  a  table  sup- 
plied with  pork,  a  piece  of  beef,  cheese,  beer  and 
common  wine.  He  would  be  oppressed  at  heart,  if 
like  a  king  he  were  clothed  in  purple  and  silk,  gold  and 
silver,  and  a  table  were  placed  before  him  covered  with 
delicacies  and  costly  dishes  of  many  kinds,  and  with 
noble  wine.  From  which  it  is  obvious  that  there  is 
heavenly  happiness  for  the  last  as  for  the  first,  for 
every  one  in  his  own  degree.  So  also  to  those  who  are 
without  the  Christian  world,  provided  they  shun  evils  as 
sins  against  God,  because  they  are  contrary  to  religion. 


232 


THE  SWEDENBORO  LIBRARY. 


There  are  a  few  who  are  totally  ignorant  of  God  ;  but 
these,  if  they  have  lived  a  moral  life,  are  iustructed  by 
angels  after  death,  and  receive  a  spiritual  principle  in 
their  moral  life.  It  is  the  same  with  those  who  worship 
the  suu  and  moon,  believing  God  to  be  there.  They 
know  no  otherwise.  Therefore  this  is  not  imputed  to 
them  as  sin  ;  for  the  Lord  says :  "  If  ye  were  blind  (that 
is,  if  ye  did  not  know),  ye  should  have  no  sin."  John  ix. 
41.  But  there  are  many,  even  in  Christendom,  who  wor- 
ship idols  and  graven  images.  This  is  actually  idola- 
trous, but  not  with  all ;  for  there  are  some  to  whom 
graven  images  serve  as  a  means  of  awakening  thought 
concerning  God  ;  for  it  is  owing  to  influx  from  heaven 
that  he  who  acknowledges  God  wishes  to  see  Him ;  and  as 
this  class  cannot  elevate  the  mind  above  sensual  things 
as  the  interior-spiritual  can,  therefore  they  arouse  it  by 
a  graven  image  or  picture.  They  who  do  this,  and  yet 
do  not  worship  that  graven  image  as  God,  if  from  re- 
ligion they  also  live  according  to  the  precepts  of  the 
decalogue,  are  saved. 

It  is  therefore  plain,  that  because  the  Lord  desires 
the  salvation  of  all,  He  has  also  provided  that  every 
one  may  have  some  [jlace  in  heaven  if  he  lives  well. — 

II. —  That  flic  vKTi/i/  natural  man  conjirriis  hhnself 
against  a  Divine  Froviih'nce  when  he  sees  the  Moham- 
medan religion  received  hij  so  many  empires  and.  king- 
doms. The  fact  that  this  religion  is  received  by  more 
kingdoms  than  the  Christian  religion,  may  be  a  stum- 
bling-block to  those  who  think  about  a  Divine  Provi- 


MOHAMMEDAXISM. 


233 


dence,  aud  at  the  same  time  believe  that  no  oue  can  be 
saved  except  those  who  are  bom  Christians;  that  is, 
where  the  Word  is  aud  the  Lord  is  known  thereby. 
But  the  Mohammedan  religion  is  not  a  stumbling-block 
to  those  who  believe  that  all  things  are  of  the  Divine 
Providence.  They  inquire  wherein  [this  religion]  is  so, 
and  also  find  out.  It  is  so  in  this,  that  the  Moham- 
medan religion  acknowledges  the  Lord  as  the  Son  of 
God,  the  wisest  of  men,  and  as  the  greatest  prophet  who 
came  into  the  world  to  teach  men.  The  greater  part 
of  Mohammedans  make  Him  greater  than  Mohammed. 
This  religion  was  raised  up  by  the  Lord's  Divine  Prov- 
idence to  destroy  the  idolatries  of  many  nations.  Pre- 
vious to  its  introduction  the  worship  of  idols  was 
common  throughout  the  whole  world,  because  the 
churches  before  the  Lord's  advent  were  all  represen- 
tative churches.  Such  was  the  Israelitish  church. 
There  the  tent,  the  garments  of  Aaron,  the  sacrifices, 
all  that  belonged  to  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  also 
the  statutes,  were  representative;  aud  among  the  an- 
cients there  was  a  knowledge  of  correspondences  —  the 
true  knowledge  of  the  wise ;  a  knowledge  cultivated 
especially  in  Egypt.  Hence  their  hieroglyphics.  From 
that  knowledge  they  knew  the  significance  of  all  kinds 
of  animals ;  also  of  all  kinds  of  trees,  aud  of  moun- 
tains, hills,  rivers,  fountains  ;  also  of  the  sun,  moon  and 
stars.  And  as  all  their  worship  was  representative,  con- 
sisting of  mere  correspondences,  therefore  they  wor- 
thipcd  on  mouutuiiis  and  lulls,  in  groves  aud  gardens. 
20* 


234 


THE  SWEDENDORG  LIBIiAltY. 


Therefore  tliey  consecrated  fouutaius,  and  in  the  wor- 
sliip  of  God  turned  their  faces  to  the  rising  sun. 
Moreover,  they  made  sculptured  horses,  oxen,  calves, 
lambs,  and  even  birds,  fishes  and  serpents.  These  they 
placed  in  their  houses  or  elsewhere,  in  an  order  accord- 
ing to  the  spiritual  things  of  the  church  to  which  they 
correspond.  They  also  placed  similar  things  in  their 
temples,  so  as  to  call  to  remembrance  the  holy  things 
which  they  signified.  After  a  time,  when  the  knowl- 
edge of  correspondences  was  obliterated,  succeeding 
generations  began  to  worship  the  sculptured  things 
as  in  themselves  holy,  not  knowing  that  the  ancient 
people,  their  parents,  saw  nothing  sacred  in  them  ;  but 
only  saw  that  according  to  correspondences  they  rep- 
resented and  therefore  signified  holy  things.  Herein 
originated  the  idolatries  which  filled  the  whole  world, 
—  Asia,  with  the  surrounding  islands,  as  well  as  Africa 
and  Europe. 

To  extirpate  all  these  idolatries,  by  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence of  the  Lord  there  was  effected  the  inauguration 
of  -a  new  religion  accommodated  to  the  genius  of  the 
Orientals,  in  which  there  should  be  something  from  the 
Word  of  both  Testaments,  and  which  should  teach  that 
the  Lord  would  come  into  the  world  ;  that  He  would  be 
the  greatest  prophet,  the  wisest  of  all  men,  and  the  Son 
of  God.  This  was  effected  through  Mohammed,  from 
whom  it  is  called  the  Mohammedan  religion.  This  relig- 
ion was  raised  up  by  the  Lord's  Divine  Providence  and 
accommodated  to  the  genius  of  the  Orientals,  for  the 


DIFFERENT  RELIGIOXS.—  WH  Y? 


235 


purpose  of  destroying  the  idolatries  of  so  mnuy  na- 
tions, and  of  giving  them  sonic  knowledge  of  the  Lord 
before  they  entered  the  spiritual  world  ;  which  religion 
would  not  liave  been  received  by  so  many  kingdoms, 
and  could  not  have  extiri)ated  idolatry,  had  it  not  been 
made  agreeable  and  confomuable  to  the  ideas  and  life 
of  them  all.  That  it  did  not  acknowledge  the  Lord  as 
the  God  of  heaven  and  earth,  was  because  the  Orient- 
als acknowledged  God  the  Creator  of  the  universe,  and 
could  not  have  comprehended  that  He  came  into  tlie 
world  and  assumed  Humanity,  as  Christians  also  do 
not,  who  therefore  in  thought  separate  liis  Divinity  from 
his  Humanity,  and  place  his  Divinity  near  the  Father 
in  heaven,  and  his  Humanity  they  know  not  where. 

From  this  it  may  be  seen  that  the  Mohammedan 
religion  arose  from  the  Lord's  Divine  Providence ;  and 
that  all  of  that  religion,  who  acknowledge  the  Lord  as 
the  Son  of  God,  and  at  the  same  time  live  according  to 
the  precepts  of  the  decalogue  (which  they  also  possess), 
by  shunning  evils  as  sins,  go  to  the  heaven  wdiich  is 
called  the  Mohammedan  heaven. — 

III. —  That  the  merely  natural  man  confirms  himself 
against  a  Divine  Providence  when  he  sees  that  the  Chris- 
tian religion  exists  only  in  that  small  port  ion  of  the  habi- 
table globe  called  Europe,  and  that  it  is  Ihere  divided. 
The  Christian  religion  was  not  adapted  to  the  genius 
of  the  Orientals,  as  the  Mohammedan  religion  wdiich 
is  mixed;  and  an  uiiadapted  religion  is  not  received. 
For  example,  a  religion  which  declares  polygamy  uu- 


236  THE  S WEDENB ORG  L IBR ARY. 


lawful  is  not  received,  but  rejected,  by  those  who  for 
ages  past  liave  been  polygauiists.  So  also  of  some 
other  teachings  sanctioned  by  the  Christian  religion. 
It  is  of  no  consequence  whether  the  smaller  or  the 
greater  part  of  the  world  receives  it,  provided  there 
are  people  among  whom  is  the  Word;  for  there  is 
light  therefrom  even  with  those  who  are  outside  of  the 
church,  and  have  not  the  Word  ;  and  what  is  wonder- 
ful, where  the  Word  is  reverently  read  and  the  Lord 
worsliiped  therefrom,  there  the  Lord  is  together  with 
heaven,  because  He  is  the  Word;  and  the  Word  is 
Divine  Truth  which  makes  heaven.  Therefore  the 
Lord  says :  "  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together 
in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them."  Matt, 
xviii.  20.  This  may  take  place  with  the  Word  in  many 
places  in  the  habitable  world  by  means  of  Europeans, 
because  they  have  commerce  with  the  whole  woi'ld  ;  and 
everywhere  by  them  the  Word  is  either  read  or  taught. 
This  looks  like  an  invention  ;  but  it  is  true. 

The  Cliristian  religion  is  divided,  because  it  is  from 
the  Word,  and  the  Word  is  written  by  mere  correspond- 
ences ;  and  correspondences  are  for  the  most  part  ap- 
pearances of  truth  ;  enclosed  within  which,  neverthe- 
less, are  concealed  genuine  truths.  And  as  the  doctrine 
of  the  church  is  to  be  drawn  from  tlie  literal  sense  of 
the  Word,  which  is  of  such  a  character,  there  cannot 
but  exist  disputes,  controversies,  and  disagreements  in 
the  church ;  especially  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  Word, 
but  not  as  to  the  Word  itsell',  or  the  Lord's  Divinity 


THE  END  OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE.  237 


itself ;  for  it  is  everywhere  acknowledged  that  the  Word 
is  holy,  and  that  Divinity  pertains  to  the  Lord ;  and 
tliese  two  are  the  essentials  of  the  Church. — 

IV. — Tliat  the  merely  natural  man  confirms  himself 
against  a  Divine  Providence,  from  the  fact  that  in  many 
kingdoms  where  the  Christian  religion  is  received,  there 
are  some  who  claim  for  themselves  Divine  Power,  and  ivish 
to  be  worshiped  as  gods,  and  that  they  invoke  the  dead. 
They  say,  indeed,  that  they  have  not  arrogated  to 
themselves  Divine  Power,  and  do  not  wish  to  be 
worshiped  as  gods ;  but  yet  they  say  that  they  can 
open  and  close  heaven,  remit  and  retain  sins,  and 
therefore  save  and  condemn  men  ;  and  this  is  [the  pre- 
rogative of]  Divinity  itself.  For  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence has  no  other  end  than  reformation,  and  conse- 
quently salvation.  This  is  its  constant  operation  with 
every  one;  and  salvation  is  impossible  except  through 
an  acknowledgment  of  the  Lord's  Divinity,  and  a  con- 
fidence that  He  does'  save  when  man  lives  according  to 
his  precepts.  Who  cannot  see  that  this  is  the  Babylon 
described  in  the  Apocalypse,  and  the  Babylon  spoken 
of  everywhere  in  the  propliets?  That  it  is  also  the 
Lucifer  of  Isa.  xiv.,  is  obvious  from  the  following 
verses  of  that  chapter,  4,  12-14,  22.  That  they  invoke 
the  dead,  and  pray  for  their  aid,  is  known.  They  are 
said  to  invoke  the  dead,  because  this  invocation  w-as 
established  by  a  papal  bull  confirming  the  decree  of 
the  Council  of  Trent,  in  which  it  is  openly  said  that 
the  dead  are  to  be  invoked.    Yet  who  does  not  know 


238 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LWMARY. 


that  the  Lord  aloue  is  to  be  invoked,  and  not  any  dead 
person. 

But  why  the  Lord  permitted  such  things  shall  now 
be  explained.  That  He  did  so  for  the  sake  of  the  end, 
which  is  salvation,  cannot  be  denied ;  for  it  is  known 
that  without  the  Lord  there  is  no  salvation  ;  and  for 
this  reason  it  was  necessary  that  the  Lord  should  be 
preached  from  the  Word,  and  that  the  Christian  churcli 
should  be  thereby  established.  But  this  could  not  have 
been  done  except  by  leaders  who  would  do  it  from  zeal ; 
nor  were  there  any  others  found,  except  those  who 
glowed  with  zeal  from  the  fire  of  self-love;  this  fire 
first  excited  tlieui  to  preach  the  Lord  and  to  teach  the 
Word.  It  is  from  this,  their  first  state,  that  Lucifer  is 
called  "the  sou  of  the  morning."  But  as  they  saw  that 
by  the  holy  things  of  the  church  they  might  rule,  sell- 
love  by  which  they  were  first  moved  to  preach  the  Lord, 
broke  forth  from  the  interior,  and  at  length  exalted 
itself  to  such  a  height  as  to  transfer  to  itself  the  whole 
of  the  Lord's  Divine  power,  leaving  nothing.  This 
could  not  be  prevented  by  the  Lord's  Divine  Provi- 
dence; for  if  it  had  been  they  would  have  declared 
that  the  Lord  was  not  God,  and  the  Word  not  holy, 
and  would  have  made  themselves  Sociuians  or  Arians, 
and  so  would  have  destroyed  the  whole  church,  which, 
whatever  the  character  of  its  leaders,  still  remained 
with  the  subjected  jjeople;  for  all  of  this  religion  who 
also  approach  the  Lord  and  shun  evils  as  sins,  are 
saved.  Therefore  there  are  many  heavenly  societies 
of  them  also  in  the  spiritual  world. — 


PROTECTION  OF  TlirXUS  IIOf.Y. 


239 


But  what  was  doue  ?  When  self-love  exalted  its  do- 
niiuiou  even  to  the  Lord's  throne,  removed  Him  and 
placed  itself  upon  it,  that  love  which  is  Lucifer,  could 
not  but  profane  all  things  belonging  to  the  Word  and 
the  church  ;  to  prevent  which  the  Lord  by  his  Divine 
Providence  determined  that  they  should  recede  from 
the  worship  of  Him,  and  should  invoke  the  dead,  pray 
to  their  images,  kiss  their  bones,  bow  down  at  their  tombs, 
forbid  the  reading  of  the  Word,  make  holy  worship 
consist  in  masses  not  understood  by  the  people,  and 
sell  salvation  for  money ;  since  if  they  had  not  doue 
these  things  they  would  have  profaned  the  holy  things 
of  the  Word  and  the  church  ;  for  only  those  who  have 
a  knowledge  of  what  is  holy  profane  it.  And  so,  lest 
they  should  profane  the  most  Holy  Supper,  it  is  of  the 
Lord's  Divine  Providence  tliat  they  should  divide  it  — 
should  give  the  bread  to  the  people,  and  drink  the  wine 
themselves ;  for  the  wine  in  the  Holy  Supper  signifies 
holy  truth,  and  the  bread  holy  good  ;  and  when  these 
are  separated,  the  wine  signifies  truth  profaned,  and  the 
bread,  good  adulterated ;  and,  moreover,  that  they  should 
make  it  corporeal  and  material,  and  should  assume  this 
as  the  first  principle  of  religion. 

Any  one  noticing  these  particulars,  and  considering 
them  with  some  degree  of  mental  enlightenment,  may 
see  in  them  the  marvelous  care  of  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence in  protecting  the  holy  things  of  the  church,  in 
saving  as  many  as  can  be  saved,  and  in  rescuing  from 
the  burning,  as  it  were,  those  who  wish  to  be  rescued. 


210 


THE  SWEDEXDORG  LIIiRARY. 


V. —  Tliai  the  merely  natural  man  confirms  himself 
agaimt  a  Divine  Proridrnrr  front  (lie  fad,  that  among  those 
who  profess  the  ( '!t,-i.<'.'c:ii  r,  /ii/'Dn,  there  are  some  who  place 
Halvation  in  ccrlain  formit/ns  whicJi  ihey  think  over  and 
repeat,  and  none  of  it  in  doing  good.  Such  is  the  case 
with  those  who  make  faith  ah)ne  saving,  and  not  the 
life  of  charity,  and  who  therefore  separate  faith  from 
charity,  as  shown  in  the  New  Ciuirch  Doctrine  of  Faith, 
where  it  is  also  shown  that  such  are  meant  in  the  Word 
by  tlie  Philistines,  the  dragon  and  the  goats.  The  pei-- 
mission  of  such  doctrine  is  also  of  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence, to  prevent  the  profanation  of  the  Lord's  Di- 
vinity and  the  holiness  of  the  Word.  The  Lord's 
Divinity  is  not  profaned  when  salvation  is  placed  in 
the  formula :  "  That  God  the  Father  may  be  merciful 
for  the  sake  of  his  Son,  who  endured  the  cross,  and 
made  satisfaction  for  us  ;  "  for  thus  they  do  not  approach 
the  Lord's  Divinity,  but  his  Humanity,  which  they  do 
not  acknowledge  as  Divine ;  nor  is  the  Word  profaned, 
because  they  pay  no  attention  to  the  passages  where 
love,  charity  and  works  are  mentioned.  All  these,  they 
say,  are  included  in  a  belief  in  the  above  formula ;  and 
they  who  confirm  this  belief  say  to  themselves:  The 
law  does  not  condemn  us,  nor  evil  therefore ;  and  good- 
ness does  not  save  us,  because  the  good  that  comes  from 
ourselves  is  not  good.  They  are  therefore  like  those 
who  have  no  knowledge  of  any  truth  from  the  Word, 
and  for  this  reason  cannot  profane  it. 

Still  the  Lord's  Divine  Providence  continually  laboi's 


THE  LIFE  OF  CHARITY  SAVES. 


241 


for  the  salvation  of  those  with  whom  faith  separate  from 
charity  has  become  a  matter  of  religion.  It  is  of  his 
Divine  Providence,  that,  although  that  faith  has  been 
made  a  part  of  religion,  yet  every  one  knows  that  tliat 
faith  docs  not  save,  but  a  life  of  charity  with  wliich 
faith  makes  one.  For  in  all  cluirclios  where  that  re- 
ligion is  received,  it  is  taught  that  there  is  no  salvation 
unless  man  examines  himself,  sees  his  sins,  acknowl- 
edges them,  repents,  desists  from  them  and  begins  a 
new  life.  This  is  proclaimed  with  great  zeal  before  all 
who  approach  the  Holy  Supper  ;  to  which  is  added  that, 
unless  they  do  this,  they  commingle  what  is  holy  with 
w^hat  is  profane,  and  hurl  themselves  to  eternal  damna- 
tion :  nay,  more,  in  Englaiid  [they  are  taught]  that 
unless  they  do  this,  the  devil  will  enter  into  them,  as  he 
did  into  Judas,  and  destroy  them  both  soul  and  body. 
It  is  plain  from  this,  tliat  even  in  the  churches  where 
the  above  faith  is  accepted,  every  one  is  taught  that 
evils  are  to  be  shunned  as  sins. 

Furthermore,  every  one  who  is  born  a  Christian  also 
knows  that  evils  ought  to  be  shunned  as  sins,  from  the 
fact  that  the  decalogue  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  every 
boy  and  girl,  and  is  taught  them  by  parents  and  teach- 
ers ;  and  moreover,  all  the  citizens  of  a  kingdom,  and 
especially  the  common  people,  are  examined  by  a  priest, 
from  the  decalogue  alone  recited  from  memory,  as  to 
what  they  know  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  are  also 
instructed  to  do  what  is  there  coirfmauded.  It  is  never 
stated  then  by  any  bishop  tiuit  they  are  not  under  the 
21  Q 


242 


THE  SWEDENBORO  LIIiJlAHY. 


yoke  of  that  law,  nor  that  they  cannot  do  those  tilings, 
because  nothing  good  comes  from  themselves. 

Again:  —  In  Sweden,  where  the  doctrine  of  faith 
alone  is  received,  it  is  also  plainly  taught  that  faith 
Avithout  charity  or  without  good  works  does  "not  exist ; 
this  is  found  in  a  Memorial  A2:)pendix  attached  to  all 
their  books  of  Psalms,  which  is  called  Difficulties  or 
Stumbling-blocks  of  the  Impenitent,  and  contains  these 
words :  "  They  who  are  rich  in  good  works  thereby 
show  themselves  rich  in  faith,  since  when  faith  is 
saving,  it  operates  through  charity  ;  for  justifying  faith 
never  exists  alone  or  separate  from  good  works,  just  as 
a  good  tree  does  not  exist  without  fruit,  or  the  sun  with- 
out light  and  heat,  or  water  without  moisture." 

These  few  statemeuts  are  adduced  to  show,  that,  al- 
though the  doclrine  of  faith  alone  is  received,  yet  the 
goods  of  charity,  which  are  good  works,  are  everywhere 
taught;  and  that  this  is  of  the  Lord's  Divine  Providence, 
lest  the  common  people  should  be  thereby  seduced.  I 
heard  Luther  (with  whom  I  have  sometimes  conversed 
in  the  spiritual  world)  execrating  faith  alone,  and  saying 
that  when  he  established  it  he  was  warned  by  an  angel 
of  the  Lord  not  to  do  so ;  but  that  he  thought  in  his 
own  mind  that  if  he  did  not  reject  works,  separation 
from  the  Catholic  religion  would  not  be  effected  ;  there- 
fore, contrary  to  the  admonition,  he  established  that 
faith.  ^ 

VI.  —  That  the  merely  natural  man  confiims  himself 
against  a  Divine  Providence  from  the  fact  that  there  have 


HEUESIES  IN  CHItlSTENDOM. 


243 


been  and  still  are  so  many  heresies  in  the  Christian  world, 
as  Quakerism,  Moravianism,  Anabaptism,  and  others. 
For  he  may  think  to  himself :  If  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence were  universal  in  the  smallest  particulars,  and 
had  for  its  end  the  salvation  of  all,  it  would  have 
caused  one  true  religion  to  exist  throughout  the  world, 
and  that  not  divided,  still  less  torn  by  heresies.  But 
exercise  your  reason,  and  think  more  deeply,  if  you 
can  :  Can  man  be  saved  unless  he  is  first  reformed  ? 
For  he  is  born  into  the  loves  of  self  and  the  world ; 
and  —  what  love  or  mercy  is  there  in  those  loves?  Does 
[a  man  under  their  influence]  think  anything  of  de- 
frauding another,  of  cursing  him,  of  cherishing  deadly 
hatred  towards  him,  of  being  cruel  to  him  when  moved 
by  revenge,  when  in  his  mind  there  exists  the  wish  to 
be  the  highest  of  all,  and  to  possess  the  property  of  all, 
thus  while  he  regards  others  as  insignificant  and  worth- 
less compared  with  himself?  In  order  for  such  a  man 
to  be  saved,  must  he  not  be  led  away  from  these  evils 
and  so  reformed  ?  This  cannot  be  done,  except  in  ac- 
cordance with  many  laws  which  are  laws  of  the  Divine 
Providence.  These  laws  are  lor  tlic  most  part  un- 
known ;  nevertheless  they  arc  l;i\vs  of  the  Divine  Wis- 
dom and  Love,  contrary  to  which  ihu  Lord  cannot  act, 
because  to  do  so  would  be  to  destroy  man,  not  to  save 
him.  Review  and  compare  the  laws  which  have  been 
set  forth,  and  you  will  see.  Since,  therefore,  it  is  also 
in  accordance  with  these  laws  that  there  is  no  imme- 
diate influx  from  heaven,  but  a  mediate  influx  through 


2U 


THE  SWEDENBOnO  LIBRARY. 


the  Word,  doctrines  and  preaching ;  while  the  Word, 
iu  order  to  be  Divine,  could  not  have  been  written 
except  by  mere  correspondences ;  it  follows  that  dissen- 
sions and  heresies  are  inevitable,  and  that  the  permis- 
sion of  them  is  also  according  to  the  laws  of  the  Divine 
Providence. 

And  furthermore,  when  the  church  itself  has  assumed 
for  its  essentials  such  things  as  belong  to  the  under- 
standing only,  thus  to  doctrine,  and  not  such  as  belong 
to  the  will,  thus  to  life ;  and  when  the  things  belonging 
to  life  are  not  the  essentials  of  the  church  ;  then  man 
from  [this  state  of]  tlie  understanding  is  iu  mere  dark- 
ness, and  wanders  about  like  one  blind,  who  runs  against 
everything,  and  falls  into  ditches.  For  the  will  must 
see  iu  the  understanding,  and  not  the  understanding  in 
the  will ;  or,  what  is  the  same  thing,  life  and  its  love 
must  lead  the  understanding  to  think,  speak  and  act, 
and  not  the  reverse ;  if  the  reverse,  the  understanding 
might,  from  an  evil  or  even  from  a  diabolical  love,  seize 
upon  whatever  presented  itself  through  the  senses,  and 
join  iu  with  the  will  to  do  it.  From  this  may  be  seen 
the  origin  of  dissensions  and  heresies.  But  yet  it  is 
provided  that  every  one,  iu  whatever  heresy  he  may  be 
as  to  the  understanding,  may  yet  be  reformed  and 
saved,  provided  he  shuns  evils  as  sins,  and  does  not 
confirm  in  himself  heretical  falsities;  for  by  shunning 
evils  as  sins  the  will  is  reformed,  and  through  the  will 
the  understanding,  which  thou  first  enters  from  dark- 
ness into  liglit. 


CONTINUANCE  OF  JUDAISM.  245 


There  are  three  essentials  of  the  church,  an  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  Lord's  Divinity,  an  acknowledgment 
of  the  holiness  of  the  Word,  and  the  life  which  is 
called  charity.  Every  man's  faith  is  according  to  the 
life  which  is  charity;  the  knowledge  of  what  his  life 
should  be  is  from  the  Word  ;  and  reformation  and  sal- 
vation are  from  the  Lord.  If  these  three  had  been 
[maintained]  as  the  essentials  of  the  church,  intellectual 
dissensions  would  not  have  divided  but  only  varied  it, 
as  light  varies  colors  in  beautiful  objects,  and  as  vari- 
ous diadems  [gems?]  give  beauty  to  the  crown  of  a 
king. 

VII. —  Tliat  the  merely  natural  man  confirms  himself 
against  a  Divine  Providence,  when  he  sees  that  Judaism 
still  continues.  [He  observes]  that  the  Jews  are  not 
converted  after  so  many  centuries,  although  they  live 
among  Christians;  and  that,  according  to  the  predic- 
tions in  the  Word,  they  do  not  confess  the  Lord  and 
acknowledge  him  as  the  Messiah,  who,  as  they  think, 
was  to  lead  them  back  to  the  land  of  Caflaan  ;  and  that 
they  constantly  persist  in  the  denial  of  Him ;  and  that 
nevertheless  it  is  still  well  with  them.  But  they  who 
think  so,  and  therefore  call  in  question  a  Divine  Provi- 
dence, do  not  know  that  by  the  Jews  in  the  Word  are 
meant  all  who  are  of  the  church  and  acknowledge  the 
Lord ;  and  that  by  the  land  of  Canaan,  into  which  it 
is  said  they  are  to  be  introduced,  is  meant  the  Lord's 
church.  But  they  persevere  in  their  denial  of  the 
].ord,  because  they  are  of  such  a  character,  that  if  they 
21  * 


246 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LWRARY. 


were  to  accept  and  acknowledge  his  Divinily  aud  the 
holy  things  of  his  church,  they  would  profane  them. 
Therefore  the  Lord  says  of  thera :  "  He  hath  blinded 
their  eyes,  and  hardened  their  heart;  that  they  should 
not  see  with  their  eyes,  nor  understand  with  their 
heart,  and  be  converted,  and  I  should  heal  them." 
John  xii.  40;  Matt.  xiii.  15;  Mark  iv.  12;  Luke  viii. 
10 ;  Isa.  vi.  9,  10.  It  is  said.  Lest  they  should  be  con- 
verted, aud  I  should  heal  them  ;  because  if  they  had 
been  converted  and  healed,  they  would  have  profaned  ; 
and  it  is  according  to  a  law  of  Divine  Providence  that 
no  one  should  be  interiorly  admitted  by  the  Lord  into 
the  truths  of  faith  and  the  goods  of  charity,  except  so 
far  as  he  can  be  kept  in  them  until  the  end  of  life ; 
otherwise  he  would  profane  what  is  holy.  The  preser- 
vation of  that  people,  and  their  being  scattered  over  a 
great  part  of  the  world,  is  on  account  of  the  Word  iu 
its  original  language,  which  they  more  than  Christians 
hold  sacred.  And  in  all  the  particulars  of  the  Word 
there  is  the  Lord's  Divinity,  for  it  is  Divine  Truth 
united  to  Divine  Good  which  proceeds  from  the  Lord, 
whereby  the  Word  is  the  union  of  the  Lord  with  the 
church  and  the  presence  of  heaven.  This  is  the  end 
of  the  Divine  Providence,  for  the  sake  of  which  they  are 
preserved  and  scattered  over  a  great  part  of  the  world. 

There  are  other  points  which  may  also  serve  the 
natural  man  as  arguments  against  a  Divine  Provi- 
dence, aud  may  likewise  present  themselves  to  other 
minds  and  excite  some  doubts.  They  are  as  follows :  — 


BELIEF  IN  TItlPERSONALITY. 


247 


I. —  Tlinl  a  doubt  may  be  inferred  against  a  Divine 
Providence  from  the  fact,  that  the  whole  Christian  world 
worships  one  God  under  three  persons,  which  is  to  worship 
three  Gods;  and  that  it  has  not  heretofore  known  that 
God  is*  one  in  Person  and  Essence,  in  whom  is  a  Trinity, 
and  that  this  God  is  the  Lord.  He  who  reasons  about 
a  Divine  Providence  may  say,  Are  not  three  persons 
three  Gods,  when  each  person  separately  is  God  ?  Who 
can,  nay,  who  does,  think  otherwise?  Athanasius  him- 
self could  not;  therefore  in  the  Creed  which  takes  its 
name  from  him,  he  says:  "Although  by  the  Christian 
verity  we  ought  to  acknowledge  each  person  as  God 
and  Lord ;  still  by  the  Christian  faith  it  is  not  allowa- 
ble to  say  or  name  three  Gods  or  three  Lords."  This 
means  nothing  else  but  that  we  ought  to  acknowledge 
three  Gods  and  Lords ;  yet  it  is  not  allowable  to  say  or 
name  three  Gods  and  three  Lords.  Who  can  possibly 
conceive  of  one  God,  unless  he  is  also  one  Person?  — 
A  belief  in  one  God,  and  that  this  God  is  the  Lord, 
constitutes  the  church  ;  for  in  Him  is  the  Divine  Trinity. 
But  what  is  thought  of  the  Lord  at  this  day  ?  Is  He 
not  supposed  to  be  God  and  Man — God  from  Jehovah 
the  Father,  from  whom  He  was  conceived  ;  and  IMan 
from  the  Virgin  Mary,  from  whom  He  was  born  ?  Who 
thinks  that  God  and  Man  in  Him,  or  his  Divinity  and 
Humanity,  are  one  Person,  and  are  one  as  soul  and  body 
are  one?  Does  any  one  know  this ?  Ask  the  Doctors 
of  Divinity,  and  they  will  say  they  did  not  know  it ; 
when  yet  it  is  so  stated  in  the  doctrine  of  the  church 


248 


THE  SWEDENDORG  LinnARY. 


received  throughout  the  Christian  world,  which  is  as 
follows :  "  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  is 
God  and  Man  ;  and  although  He  is  God  and  Man,  still 
there  are  not  two,  but  one  Christ;  He  is  one,  because 
the  Divinity  took  to  itself  the  Humanity ;  yea,  He  is 
perfectly  one,  for  He  is  one  Person ;  since  as  soul  and 
body  make  one  man,  so  are  God  and  Man  one  Clirist." 
This  is  from  the  Athauasian  Creed.  They  did  not 
know  this,  because  when  they  read  that  statement  they 
did  not  think  of  the  Lord  as  God,  but  only  as  a  Man. — 
Consider  whether  there  is  any  other  God  of  the  uni- 
verse but  the  Lord  alone,  in  whom  the  originative  Di- 
vine is  what  is  called  the  Father,  the  Divine  Humanity 
what  is  called  the  Son,  and  the  proceeding  Divine 
what  is  called  the  Holy  Spirit  ;  and  thus  that  God  is 
one  in  Person  and  Essence,  and  that  this  God  is  the 
Lord.  If  you  insist,  saying  that  the  Lord  Himself 
mentioned  Three  in  Matthew  xxviii.  19  :  "  Go  ye  there- 
fore and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  " 
[the  reply  is],  that  He  said  this  to  make  known  that 
in  Him  then  glorified  was  the  Divine  Trinity,  as  is 
evident  from  the  verse  immediately  preceding  and 
from  that  immediately  following.  In  the  verse  im- 
mediately preceding,  He  says  that  all  power  is  given 
Him  in  heaven  and  on  earth ;  and  in  that  immediately 
following  He  says  that  He  is  with  them  always,  even 
until  the  consummation  of  the  age.  Thus  [He  spoke] 
of  Himself  alone,  and  not  of  three.    Now,  as  to  why 


THE  DIVINE  HUMANITY. 


249 


Divine  Providence  has  permitted  Christians  to  worship 
God  under  three  persons  —  that'  is,  to  worship  three 
Gods  —  and  to  be  ignorant  hitherto  that  God  is  one 
ill  Person  and  Essence,  in  whom  is  a  Trinity,  and  tliat 
tins  God  is  the  Lord.  The  Lord  is  not  the  cause,  but 
man  himself.  The  Lord  teaches  that  doctrine  plainly 
in  his  Word ;  and  also  in  the  doctrine  of  all  the 
churches,  which  states  that  his  Divinity  and  Humanity 
arc  not  two  but  one  Person,  united  like  soul  and  body. 

But  the  first  cause  of  their  separating  his  Divinity 
and  Humanity,  and  making  his  Divinity  equal  to  that 
of  Jehovah  the  Father,  and  his  Humanity  like  that  of 
another  man,  was,  that  the  church  after  its  rise  declined 
to  Babylon,  which  transferred  the  Lord's  Divine  power 
to  itself.  But  lest  it  should  be  called  a  Divine,  and  not 
a  human  power,  they  made  the  Lord's  Humanity  like 
tliat  of  another  man.  And  afterwards,  when  the  church 
was  reformed,  and  faith  alone  was  received  as  the  sole 
means  of  salvation,  his  Humanity  could  not  be  viewed 
otherwise ;  because  no  one  can  approach  the  Lord  and 
in  heai't  acknowledge  Him  as  the  God  of  heaven  and 
earth,  except  he  who  lives  according  to  his  precepts. 
In  the  spiritual  world,  where  every  one  is  obliged  to 
speak  as  he  thinks,  no  one  can  even  name  Jesus,  except 
he  who  has  lived  in  the  world  as  a  Christian ;  and  this 
is  of  the  Lord's  Divine  Providence,  lest  his  Name 
should  be  profaned. — 

11. —  That  a  doubt  may  be  inferred  against  a  Divine 
Providence  from  the  fact,  that,  hitherto  men  have  not  knoivii 


250 


THE  SWEDEXBORG  LTTinARY. 


that  there  is  a  spiritual  sense  in  all  the  particulars  of  the 
Word,  and  that  this  is  the  reason  of  its  holiness.  For 
a  doubt  may  be  inferred  against  a  Divine  Providence, 
asking  why  this  is  now  first  revealed,  and  why  revealed 
by  this  man  or  that,  and  not  by  some  archbishop.  But 
whether  the  revealer  is  an  archbishop  or  the  servant 
of  an  archbishop,  is  of  the  Lord's  good  pleasure ;  He 
knows  the  character  of  both.  But  the  reason  why  that 
sense  of  the  Word  was  not  before  revealed,  is : — 

T/iiit  if  it  Jtad  been  the  church  would  have  profaned  it, 
and  would  therebij  have  profaned  the  very  holiness  of  the 
Word.  The  church,  not  long  after  its  establishment, 
was  turned  into  Babylon,  and  afterwards  into  Philistia; 
and  Babylon  does  indeed  acknowledge  the  Word,  but 
yet  despises  it  in  saying  that  the  Holy  Spirit  inspires 
them  in  their  [exercise  of]  supreme  authority  just  as 
much  as  it  did  the  prophets.  They  acknowledge  the 
Word  on  account  of  the  vicarship  established  on  the 
Lord's  words  to  Peter ;  while  yet  they  despise  it,  be- 
ouse  it  does  not  harmonize  [throughout  with  their 
views].  Therefore  it  is  taken  away  from  the  people 
and  hidden  in  monasteries  where  few  read  it.  Where- 
fore if  the  spiritual  sense  of  the  Word,  in  which  the 
Lord  is,  together  with  all  angelic  wisdom,  had  been  dis- 
closed, the  Word  would  have  been  profaned,  not  only  as 
it  now  is  in  its  ultimates,  which  are  what  is  contained  in 
its  literal  sense,  but  also  in  its  inmosts.  Philistia,  by 
which  is  meant  faith  separate  from  charity,  would  also 
have  profaned  the  spiritual  sense  of  the  Word,  because 


SPIRITUAL  SENSE  OF  THE  WORD.  251 


it  places  salvation  in  certain  forimilas  which  men  may 
think  of  and  repeat,  and  not  iu  doing  good.  Thus  they 
make  that  saving  which  is  not  saving,  and  moreover 
remove  tlie  uiulcrstandiuo-  from  what  is  to  be  believed. 
What  to  them  is  llie  light  in  which  resides  the  spiritiiul 
sense  of  the  Word?  Would  it  not  be  turned  into  dark- 
ness? When  the  natural  sense  is,  why  not  the  spiritual? 
Does  any  one  of  them  who  has  confirmed  himself  in  faith 
separate  from  charity,  and  iu  justification  by  that  alone, 
wish  to  know  what  good  of  life  is,  what  love  to  the  Lord 
and  the  neighbor  is,  what  charity  is,  and  the  good  be- 
longing to  charity,  what  good  works  are  and  the  doing 
of  them,  or  even  what  fuith  is  in  its  essence,  or  any 
genuine  truth  which  constitutes  it?  They  write  vol- 
umes, and  confirm  only  that  which  they  call  faith  ;  and 
all  the  things  just  mentioned,  they  say,  are  included  in 
that  faith.  From  which  it  is  plain  that  if  the  spiritual 
sense  of  the  Word  had  been  before  revealed,  it  woukl 
have  come  to  pass  according  to  the  Lord's  words  in 
Matt.  vi.  23  :  "  But  if  thine  eye  be  evil,  thy  whole  body 
shall  be  full  of  darkness ;  if  therefore  the  light  which 
is  in  thee  be  darkness,  how  great  is  that  darkness." 
The  eye,  iu  the  spiritual  sense  of  the  Word,  means  the 
understanding. — 

It  is  of  the  Lord's  Divine  Providence  that  the  spir- 
itual sense  has  been  hidden  from  the  world  until  the 
present  age,  and  has  been  preserved  meanwhile  in 
heaven  among  the  angels,  who  from  it  derive  their  wis- 
dom.   That  sense  was  known  to  the  ancients  who  lived 


252 


THE  SWEDEXnORG  LIBRARY. 


before  Moses,  and  was  also  studied  ;  but  because  their 
posterity  turned  tlie  correspondences,  of  which  alone 
their  Word,  and  consequently  their  religion  consisted, 
into  idolatry  of  various  kinds,  and  because  the  Egyp- 
tians turned  it  into  magic,  by  the  Lord's  Divine  Provi- 
dence it  was  closed  up  —  first  among  the  children  of 
Israel,  and  afterwards  among  Christians  —  for  the  rea- 
sons above  stated ;  and  it  is  now  first  opened  for  the 
Lord's  New  Church. 

III. —  That  a  doubt  may  be  inferred  against  a  Divine 
Providence  from  the  fad,  that  men  liave  not  hitherto  knoivn 
that  to  shun  evils  as  sins  is  the  Christian  religion  itself. 
Men  are  said  to  have  been  ignorant  of  the  fact,  that  to 
shun  evils  as  sins  is  the  Christian  religion  itself,  because 
almost  all  are  ignorant  of  it,  and  yet  each  one  knows 
it.  Nearly  all  are  yet  ignorant  of  it,  because  faith 
separate  from  charity  has  obliterated  the  idea ;  for  it 
afiirms  that  faith  alone  saves,  and  not  good  works  or 
any  good  flowing  from  charity ;  and  again,  that  they 
are  no  longer  under  the  yoke  of  the  law,  but  free.  They 
Wiio  have  heard  such  things  occasionally,  no  longer 
think  about  any  evil  in  their  life,  or  about  any  good  in 
it.  Moreover,  every  man  is  by  nature  inclined  to  em- 
brace this  belief;  and  when  once  he  has  done  so,  he 
thinks  no  more  about  the  state  of  his  life;  this  is  why 
the  above  truth  is  unknown.  That  it  is  unknown  has 
been  disclosed  to  me  in  the  spiritual  world:  I  asked 
more  than  a  thousand  new-comers  from  the  world, 
whether  they  kbew  that  shunning  evils  as  sins  was 


JUDGED  D  Y  THEIR  DEEDS. 


253 


religion  itself,  and  they  said  they  did  not,  and  that  it 
was  to  them  a  new  thing  never  before  heard  of;  but 
tliat  they  had  heard  that  they  could  not  do  good  of 
themselves,  and  were  not  under  the  yoke  of  the  law. 
—  All  [in  the  spiritual  world]  are  examined  as  to 
life  [that  is,  character]  and  judged  according  to  their 
deeds,  and  none  according  to  their  foith  separate  from 
life  ;  for  every  one's  faith  is  according  to  his  life.  That 
the  Christian  world  for  the  most  part  has  not  known 
this,  is  from  the  law  of  the  Divine  Providence,  that 
every  one  is  left  to  act  from  freedom  according  to 
reason.  Also  from  the  law  that  no  one  is  taught  im- 
mediately from  heaven,  but  mediately  through  the 
"Word,  doctrine,  and  preaching  therefrom ;  and  from 
all  the  laws  of  permission,  which  are  likewise  laws  of 
the  Divine  Providence. 

IV. —  That  a  doubt  may  be  inferred  against  the  Divine 
Providence  from  the  fact,  that  h  itherto  men  have  not  known 
that  they  live  as  men  after  death ;  and  this  has  not  before 
been  revealed.  They  did  not  know  this,  because  in  those 
who  do  not  shun  evils  as  sins  there  is  interiorly  hidden 
the  belief  that  man  does  not  live  after  death,  and  there- 
fore they  count  it  of  no  importance  whether  he  is  said  to 
live  as  man  after  death,  or  is  to  be  raised  up  again  at 
the  day  of  judgment;  and  if,  perchance,  one  of  them 
happens  to  believe  in  a  resurrection,  he  says  to  himsell': 
It  is  no  worse  for  me  than  for  others ;  if  I  go  to  hell,  I 
have  plenty  of  company,  and  if  to  heaven,  the  same. 
But  yet  in  all  who  have  any  religion,  there  is  au  innate 


254 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


knowledge  that  tliey  do  live  as  men  after  death  ;  the 
idea  that  they  live  as  souls,  and  not  as  men,  exists  only 
with  those  whom  their  own  intelligence  has  infatuated, 
not  with  others. 

That  in  every  one  who  has  any  religion,  there  is  an 
innate  knowledge  that  he  lives  as  a  man  after  death, 
maybe  evident  from  the  following  considerations:  1. 
Who  thinks  otherwise  when  dying?  2.  What  pane- 
gyrist when  lamenting  the  dead,  does  not  exalt  them  to 
heaven,  place  them  among  angels,  conversing  with 
them,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  happiness?  Besides, 
some  have  been  apotheosized.  3.  Who  among  tlie 
common  people  does  not  believe  that  when  he  dies,  if 
he  has  lived  well,  he  will  go  to  a  heavenly  paradise,  be 
clothed  in  white  raiment,  and  enjoy  eternal  life?  4. 
What  priest  is  there  who  does  not  say  the  same  or 
similar  things  to  one  about  to  die?  and  when  he  says 
so,  he  also  believes  them  himself,  provided  he  does  not 
then  think  about  the  last  judgment.  5.  Who  does  not 
believe  that  his  children  are  in  heaven,  and  that  after 
death  he  will  see  his  wife  whom  he  had  loved  ?  Who 
thinks  that  they  are  spectres,  much  less  that  they  are 
souls  or  minds  flitting  about  the  universe?  6.  Who 
contradicts  when  anything  is  said  about  the  lot  or  state 
of  those  who  have  passed  from  time  to  the  eternal  life  ? 
I  have  said  to  many  that  such  was  the  lot  of  these  or 
tliose,  and  I  have  not  yet  heard  one  say  that  they  had 
obtained  no  lot  as  yet,  but  would  at  the  day  of  judg- 
ment.   7.  Who,  when  he  sees  angels  painted  or  sculp- 


REVELATION  OF  THE  nEREAFTER.  255 


tured,  does  not  acknowledge  that  such  they  are?  Who 
theu  thiuks  tliat  tliey  are  spirits  without  bodies,  or 
vapors,  or  clouds,  as  some  of  the  learned  do?  8.  The 
Papists  believe  that  their  saints  are  men  in  heaven,  and 
the  rest  elsewhere;  the  Mohammedans  think  the  same 
of  their  dead ;  especially  do  the  Africans  think  so,  and 
other  nations  in  like  manner :  why  not  the  Reformed 
Christians,  who  know  it  from  the  Word?  9.  It  is  also 
from  that  knowledge  inherent  in  every  one  that  some 
aspire  to  an  immortality  of  fame;  for  that  knowledge 
is  turned  into  such  aspiration  with  some,  and  makes 
them  heroes  and  brave  in  war.  10.  Inquiry  was  made 
in  the  sjiiritual  world  as  to  whether  that  knowledge 
was  inherent  in  all  ;  and  it  was  found  to  be  so  with  all 
in  their  spiritual  ideas  which  belong  to  internal  thouuiit, 
but  not  in  their  natural  ideas  which  belong  to  external 
thought. 

Evidently,  therefore,  no  doubt  can  be  inferred  against 
a  Divine  Providence,  from  the  fact  that  it  is  sujipostHl 
to  be  now  revealed  for  the  first  time,  that  num  lives  as 
a  man  after  death.  It  is  only  man's  sensual  nature 
that  desii-es  to  see  and  feel  what  it  believes.  He  who 
does  not  think  above  that  nature,  is  involved  in  tlie 
darkness  of  night  regarding  the  state  of  his  life.  (D. 
P.,  n.  234-274.) 


XIV. 

EVILS  ARE  PERMITTED  FOR  THE  SAKE  OF  THE 
END,  WHICH  IS  SALVATION. 

• 

F  man  were  born  into  the  love  in  which  he  was 
created  he  would  not  be  in  any  evil,  nor  would 
he  even  know  what  evil  is.  For  he  who  has 
not  been  in  evil,  and  consequently  is  not  in 
evil,  cannot  know  what  evil  is.  If  he  were  told  that 
this  or  that  is  evil,  he  would  not  believe  it  possible. 
This  state  is  the  state  of  innocence  in  which  Adam 
and  Eve  were ;  the  nakedness  of  which  thej^  were  not 
ashamed  signified  that  state.  The  knowledge  of  evil 
after  the  fall  is  meant  by  eating  from  the  tree  of  the 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil.  The  love  in  which  man 
was  created  is  the  love  of  the  neighbor,  so  that  he  may 
wish  as  well  to  liim  as  to  himself,  and  better ;  and  that 
he  may  be  in  the  delight  of  that  love  when  he  does 
good  to  the  neighbor,  [thus  feeling  towards  his  neigh- 
bor] almost  as  a  parent  towards  children.  This  love 
is  truly  human  ;  for  there  is  in  it  a  spiritual  principle, 
by  which  it  is  distinguished  from  natural  love,  which 
belongs  to  brutes.  If  man  were  born  into  this  love  he 
would  not  be  born  into  the  darkness  of  ignorance,  as 
every  man  now  is,  but  into  a  certain  light  of  knowledge 

250 


SKLF-L  U  VE  AXIJ  \E  10 II  BURL  Y  LOVE.  257 


aii(l  .consequent  intelligence,  into  [the  possession  of] 
which  he  would  also  quickly  come.— 

But  when  the  love  of  the  neigiibor  was  turned  into 
self-love,  man  could  no  longer  be  born  into  the  light  of 
knowledge  and  intelligence,  but  into  the  darkness  of 
ignorance,  because  into  the  very  ultimate  of  life,  which 
is  called  the  sensual-corporeal ;  and  from  this  by  instruc- 
tion he  could  be  introduced  into  the  interiors  of  the 
natural  mind,  tiie  spiritual  principle  always  accompa- 
nying [the  progress].— That  the  love  of  the  neighbor 
and  self-love  are  opposite  loves  any  one  may  see ;  for 
the  love  of  the  neighbor  wishes  well  to  all  from  itself; 
but  self-love  wishes  well  to  itself  alone  from  all ;  the 
love  of  the  neighbor  wishes  to  serve  all,  and  self-love 
wishes  all  to  serve  it;  the  love  of  the  neighbor  regards 
all  as  its  brothers  and  friends ;  self-love  regards  all  as 
its  slaves,  and  if  they  are  not  subservient,  as  its  ene- 
mies; in  a  word,  it  regards  itself  only,  and  others 
scarcely  as  men,  whom  in  heart  it  estimates  lower  than 
its  own  horses  and  dogs ;  and  because  it  regards  them 
as  so  vile,  it  also  thinks  nothing  of  doing  evil  to  them; 
hence  arise  hatred  and  revenge,  adultery  and  fornica- 
tion, theft  and  fraud,  lying  and  swearing,  ferocity  and 
cruelty,  and  other  such  evils.    These  are  the  evils  iu 
which  man  is  by  birth  ;  that  they  are  permitted  for  the 
sake  of  the  end,  which  is  salvation,  is  to  be  demonstrated 
iu  the  following  order : — 

I.  —  Every  man  is  in  evil,  and  mnst  be  led  away  from 
evil  in  order  to  be  reformed.    That  hereditary  evil  per- 


258 


THE  SWEDENIiORG  LIIIRARY. 


tains  to  every  man,  and  that  from  it  he  is  in  the  lugt  of 
many  evils,  is  known  in  the  church.  Therefore  man 
cannot  of  himself  do  good ;  for  evil  does  not  do  good, 
except  such  as  encloses  evil  within  it;  the  evil  which  is 
within,  is,  that  he  does  good  for  the  sake  of  self,  and 
thus  for  the  sake  of  appearances  only.  This  evil  is 
known  to  be  inherited  from  parents.  It  is  said  to  be 
from  Adam  and  his  wife ;  but  this  is  an  error ;  for  every 
one  is  born  into  it  from  his  own  parent,  and  the  parent 
from  his  parent,  and  the  latter  again  from  his ;  and  so 
it  is  transmitted  successively  from  one  to  another;  thus 
it  is  strengthened  and  increases,  and  is  communicated 
to  offspring.  Therefore  in  man  there  is  nothing  whole, 
but  all  is  to  some  extent  evil.  Who  feels  that  it  is  evil 
to  love  himself  more  than  others  ?  Who  therefore 
knows  that  it  is  evil?  When  yet  it  is  the  source  of 
evils.  That  there  is  a  hereditary  nature  derived  from 
parents,  grandparents  and  great-grandparents,  is  ob- 
vious from  much  that  is  known  in  the  world,  as  that 
households,  families,  and  even  nations,  are  distinguished 
from  each  other  merely  by  their  features ;  and  features 
are  types  of  dispositions ;  and  dispositions  are  accord- 
ing to  love's  affections.  Sometimes  the  features  of  a 
great-grandfather  reappear  even  in  those  of  a  grandson 
or  great-grandson.  From  the  features  alone  I  know 
whether  a  man  is  a  Jew  or  not.  I  also  know  to  what 
family  some  belong.  And  I  doubt  not  that  others  can 
do  the  same.  If  love's  affections  are  thus  inherited 
from  parents,  and  transmitted,  it  follows  that  evils  are 
alao,  because  tlioy  belong  to  the  affections. — 


NO  REFORMATION  AFTER  DEATH.  259 

He  who  is  iu  evil  iu  the  world  is  in  evil  after  his 
departure  from  the  world.  Therefore  if  evil  is  not 
removed  iu  the  world,  it  canuot  be  removed  afterwards. 
Where  the  tree  falls,  there  it  lies.  So  also  does  man's 
life,  when  he  dies,  remain  such  as  it  was.  Moreover, 
every  one  is  judged  according  to  his  deeds ;  not  that 
they  are  recounted,  but  because  he  returns  to  them  and 
acts  similarly ;  for  death  is  a  continuation  of  life,  with 
the  difference  that  man  cannot  then  be  reformed.'  All 
reformation  is  through  — that  is,  takes  place  in  — pri- 
maries and  ultimates  simultaneously :  and  ultimates  in 
the  world  are  reformed  harmoniously  with  primaries, 
and  cannot  be  reformed  afterwards,  because  the  ulti- 
mates of  life  which  man  retains  after  death,  are  quies- 
cent, and  harmonize  with  his  interiors ;  that  is,  act  as 
one  with  them. 

11— Evils  cannot  be  removed  unless  they  appear.  The 
meaning  is  not  that  man  is  to  do  evil  in  order  that  it 
may  appear;  but  that  he  is  to  examine  himself,  not 
only  his  deeds,  but  also  his  thoughts,  and  what  he  would 
do  did  he  not  fear  the  laws  and  disgrace;  especially 
what  evils  he  regards  in  his  spirit  as  allowable,  and 
does  not  consider  as  sins,  for  these  he  still  does.  In 
order  that  man  may  examine  himself,  an  understand- 
ing is  given  him,  and  this  separate  from  the  will,  to  the 
end  that  he  may  know,  understand  and  acknowledge 
what  is  good  and  what  is  evil,  and  also  that  he  may 
know  the  character  of  his  will,  or  what  he  loves  and 
longs  for.    In  order  that  man  may  see  this,  there  is 


260  TEE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


given  to  bis  understanding  a  superior  and  an  inferior, 
or  an  interior  and  an  exterior  thought;  so  tliat  from 
his  superior  or  interior  thought  he  may  see  what  the 
will  does  in  his  inferior  and  exterior  thought;  this  he 
sees  as  a  man  sees  his  face  in  a  mirror ;  and  when  he 
sees  it,  and  knows  what  sin  is,  he  can,  if  he  implores  the 
Lord's  aid,  cease  to  favor  it  in  his  will,  may  shun  it,  and 
afterwards  act  contrary  to  it ;  if  not  freely,  yet  by  self- 
compulsion  through  conflict ;  and  Anally  he  may  be- 
come averse  to  it  and  abominate  it ;  and  then,  and  not 
before,  he  first  perceives  and  also  feels  that  evil  is  evil, 
and  that  good  is  good. 

This  now  is  self-examination — for  man  to  see  his 
evils,  to  acknowledge  them,  to  confess  them,  and  after- 
wards to  desist  from  them.  But  as  there  are  few  who 
know  that  this  is  the  Cliri.stian  religion  itself,  therefore 
something  shall  be  said  of  those  who  do  not  do  this,  and 
who  still  think  they  have  religion. 

1st.  OJ  those  who  confess  themselves  guilhj  of  all  s'ms, 
and  do  not  search  out  any  [particular  sin']  in  themselves ; 
each  cue  saying,  I  am  a  sinner ;  I  was  born  in  sin  ; 
there  is  nothing  sound  in  me  from  head  to  foot;  I  am 
notliiiig  but  evil ;  Good  God  !  be  merciful  to  me,  pardon 
me,  purify  me,  save  me,  make  me  to  walk  in  purity  and 
in  the  way  of  righteousness ;  and  so  on ;  and  yet  docs 
not  examine  himself,  and  therefore  does  not  know  of 
any  particular  evil  [in  him].  And  no  one  can  shun 
that  of  which  he  knows  nothing,  much  less  fight  against 
it;  and  he  also  believes  himself  to  be  clean  and  washed 


REASONING  OF  SOLIFIDIANS. 


261 


after  confession,  when  yet  he  is  unclean  and  unwashed 
from  the  head  to  the  sole  of  his  foot.  For  the  confes- 
sion of  all  sins  is  an  unconsciousness  of  all,  and  at 
length  blindness  with  regard  to  them;  and  it  is  like 
something  universal  without  any  of  its  particulars, 
which  is  nothing. 

2d.  OJ  those  who  from  relic/ion  neglect  to  search.  This 
class  consists  especially  of  those  who  separate  charity 
from  faith:  For  they  say  within  themselves,  Why 
should  I  examine  whether  anything  [in  me]  is  evil  or 
good?  Why  examine  if  it  is  evil,  since  that  does  not 
damu  me  ?  or  why  if  it  is  good,  since  that  does  not  save 
me?  It  is  faith  alone,  thought  of  and  expressed  with 
trust  and  confidence,  that  justifies  and  purifies  from  all 
sin  ;  and  when  once  I  am  justified  I  am  perfect  before 
God.  I  am  indeed  in  evil,  but  this  God  washes  away 
t!ie  moment  it  occurs,  and  so  it  no  longer  appears ;  and 
other  such  arguments. 

But  who,  if  he  opens  his  eyes,  does  not  see  that  these 
arc  empty  words,  in  which  there  is  no  reality,  because 
tliere  is  nothing  of  what  is  good  in  them?  Who  can- 
not think  and  talk  so,  even  with  trust  and  confidence, 
when  at  the  same  time  he  thinks  of  hell  and  eternal 
damnation?  Does  such  a  man  want  to  know  further 
of  anything,  whether  it  is  either  true  or  good  ?  Of 
truth  he  says,  What  is  truth,  but  that  which  confirms 
tiiat  faith  ?  And  of  good  he  says.  What  is  good,  but 
that  wliich  is  in  me  from  that  faith?  But  in  order  that 
it  may  be  in  me,  I  must  not  do  it  of  myself,  since  this  is 


262 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


meritorious ;  and  meritorious  good  is  not  good.  So  he 
aeglects  all  inquiry,  even  until  he  knows  not  what  evil 
IS.  What  then  shall  he  examine  in  himself  and  see? 
Does  not  his  state  then  become  such,  that  the  fire  of 
the  lusts  of  evil  being  shut  in  consumes  the  interiors 
of  his  mind,  and  lays  them  waste  to  the  very  door  ?  this 
only  he  guards,  lest  the  burning  should  appear ;  but 
it  is  opened  after  death,  and  then  his  state  is  apparent 
to  all. 

3d.  Of  those  who  on  account  of  ivorldly  affairs  do  not 
think  about  sins,  and  so  know  nothing  of  them.  These 
are  they  who  love  the  world  above  all  things,  and  do 
not  admit  any  truth  that  leads  them  away  from  any- 
thing false  in  their  religion,  saying  within  themselves, 
What  is  that  to  me?  I  take  no  thought  about  such 
things.  Thus  they  reject  truth  the  moment  they  hear 
it ;  or  if  they  give  it  a  hearing  they  suffocate  it.  This 
class  do  almost  the  same  thing  when  they  hear  preach- 
ing :  they  retain  none  of  it  except  a  few  expressions, 
and  nothing  of  the  subject.  Dealing  thus  with  what 
is  true,  they  therefore  do  not  know  what  is  good, —  for 
these  make  one ;  and  from  the  good  which  is  not  de- 
rived from  the  true,  evil  is  not  recognized,  except  to 
call  it  good  also,  which  is  done  by  reasonings  from  what 
is  false.  These  are  they  who  are  meant  by  the  seeds 
■which  fell  among  thorns,  and  the  thorns  sprung  up  and 
choked  them.  Matt.  xiii.  7,  22 ;  Mark  iv.  7, 19 ;  Luke 
viii.  7,  14. 

4th.  Of  those  who  favor  sins,  and  therefore  cannot  know 


EVTL  COVERED  UP,  INCREASES. 


263 


of  them.  These  are  they  who  acknowledge  God,  and 
worship  Him  accoi'ding  to  the  customary  ceremonies, 
and  confirm  themselves  in  the  belief  that  any  evil 
which  is  a  sin,  is  not  a  sin  ;  for  they  paint  it  over  with 
fallacies  and  appearances,  and  so  hide  its  enormity. 
When  they  have  done  this  they  favor  it,  and  so  make 
it  their  friend  and  familiar.  It  is  said  that  they  who 
acknowledge  God  do  this  ;  because  others  do  not  regard 
any  evil  as  sin  ;  for  all  sin  is  against  God.  He  makes 
evil  to  be  no  sin,  who,  being  greedy  for  wealth,  by  rea- 
sons that  he  conjures  up,  renders  certain  kinds  of  fraud 
allowable ;  he  does  the  same  who  confirms  in  himself 
[a  spirit  of]  revenge  against  enemies,  and  he  who  justi- 
fies the  plundering  of  those  who  are  not  enemies  in 
war. 

5th.  Tliat  with  these,  sins  do  not  appear,  and  therefore 
cannot  be  removed.  All  evil  that  does  not  appear,  fo- 
ments. It  is  like  fire  in  wood  covered  with  ashes,  and 
like  matter  in  a  wound  that  is  not  opened  ;  for  all  evil 
that  is  suppressed,  increases,  and  does  not  cease  [to 
work]  until  the  whole  is  finished.  Therefore,  lest  any 
evil  should  be  suppressed,  every  one  is  permitted  to 
think  for  God  or  against  Him ;  also  for  the  holy  things 
of  the  church  and  against  them,  and  not  to  be  punished 
therefor  in  the  world.  Of  this  the  Lord  speaks  in 
Isaiah  i.  6,  16,  18,  20. 

6th.  The  hitherto  unknown  cause  ivhy  evils  cannot  he 
removed  without  the  examination,  appearance,  acknowl- 
edgment, confession  and  resistance  of  them. —  Every  man 


264 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LITiRARY. 


as  to  his  spirit  is  in  some  society  in  the  other  world, —  in 
a  heavenly  society  if  he  is  in  affection  for  the  good, 
and  in  an  infernal  society  if  he  is  in  the  lust  of  evil. 
Man  does  not  know  this  while  he  lives  in  this  world  ; 
but  still  as  to  his  spirit  he  is  in  some  society  ;  without 
this  he  cannot  live ;  and  he  is  thereby  governed  by  the 
Lord.  If  he  is  in  an  infernal  society,  he  cannot  be  led 
out  of  it  by  the  Lord  except  according  to  the  laws  of 
Divine  Providence,  among  which  is  this:  that  he  should 
see  that  he  is  there,  should  wish  to  escape,  and  should 
endeavor  of  himself  to  do  so.  This  he  can  do  while  in 
the  world,  but  not  after  death  ;  for  then  he  remains  for- 
ever in  that  society  into  which  he  had  inserted  himself 
while  in  the  world.  This  is  why  man  ought  to  examine 
himself,  see  and  acknowledge  his  sins,  repent  and  finally 
persevere  until  the  end  of  life. — 

III. —  So  far  as  evils  are  removed,  they  are  forgiven.  It 
is  an  error  of  the  age  to  believe  that  evils  are  separated 
from  man,  and  even  cast  out,  when  they  are  forgiven  ; 
and  that  the  state  of  a  man's  life  can  be  changed  in  a 
moment,  even  to  an  opposite  state,  so  that  from  being 
evil  he  can  become  good,  consequently  can  be  led  out  of 
hell  and  transferred  straightway  to  heaven,  and  this 
from  the  immediate  mercy  of  the  Lord.  But  they  who 
so  believe  and  suppose,  do  not  know  what  good  is  or 
what  evil  is,  and  know  nothing  whatever  of  the  state  of 
man's  life;  and  are  wholly  ignorant  of  the  fact  that 
affections,  which  belong  to  the  will,  are  mere  changes 
and  variations  of  state  in  the  purely  organic  substances 


evils;  are  not  cast  out. 


265 


of  tlic  miud ;  and  that  thoughts,  which  belong  to  the 
understanding,  are  mere  changes  and  variations  of  the 
forms  of  these  substances  ;  and  that  memory  is  the  per- 
manent state  of  these  changes.  From  an  understand- 
ing of  these  statements,  it  may  be  clearly  seen  that  no 
evil  can  be  removed  except  gradually;  and  that  the 
forgiveness  of  evil  is'not  its  removal.  But  these  state- 
ments must  be  demonstrated  one  by  one. 

1st.  It  is  an  error  of  the  age  to  believe  that  evils  are  sep- 
arated, and  even  cast  out,  when  they  are  forgiven. — I  once 
held  the  belief  which  the  majority  in  the  world  enter- 
tain, that  evils  when  forgiven  are  rejected,  and  washed 
away  as  dirt  is  washed  from  the  face  by  water.  But 
such  is  not  the  case  with  evils  or  sins.  They  all  remain  ; 
and  when  after  repentance  they  are  forgiven,  they  are 
removed  from  the  centre  to  the  circumference  ;  and  then 
what  is  at  the  centre,  because  directly  under  inspection, 
appears  as  in  the  light  of  day  ;  and  what  is  at  the  cir- 
cumference is  in  the  shade,  and  sometimes  as  it  were  in 
the  darkness  of  night.  And  because  evils  are  not  sep- 
arated, but  only  removed,  that  is,  sent  to  the  circum- 
ference ;  and  as  man  may  be  transferred  from  the  centre 
to  the  circumference,  it  may  even  happen  that  he  may 
return  to  his  evils  which  he  had  supposed  were  rejected. 
For  man  is  of  such  a  nature  that  he  may  pass  from  one 
affection  into  another,  and  sometimes  into  an  opposite 
one,  and  so  from  one  centre  to  another.  Man's  affec- 
tion, while  he  is  in  it,  constitutes  the  centre,  for  he  is 
then  in  his  delight  and  in  his  light. 
23 


266 


THE  fiWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


There  are  some  men  who  after  death  are  elevated  by 
the  Lord  to  heaven  because  they  have  lived  well,  but 
who  still  carry  with  them  the  belief  that  they  are  clean 
and  pure  from  sin,  and  that  therefore  they  are  not  liable 
to  be  accused.  They  are  first  clothed  in  white,  accord- 
ing to  their  belief ;  for  white  clothing  signifies  a  state 
2:)urified  from  evil.  But  afterwards  they  begin  to  think 
as  in  tlie  world  that  they  are  washed,  as  it  were,  from  all 
evil,  and  therefore  to  glory  in  the  idea  that  they  are  no 
longer  sinners  like  others,  which  can  hardly  be  sepa- 
rated from  some  exaltation  of  mind,  and  from  some 
contempt  of  others  compared  with  themselves.  Then, 
therefore,  in  order  to  remove  them  from  their  imaginary 
belief,  they  are  sent  out  of  heaven,  and  remitted  into 
the  evils  which  they  had  contracted  in  the  world ;  and 
at  the  same  time  it  is  shown  them  that  they  are  also  in 
hereditary  evils,  of  which  they  had  not  befoi-e  known. 
And  after  they  have  thus  been  compelled  to  acknowl- 
edge that  their  evils  have  not  been  separated  from 
them,  but  only  removed ; — that  they  are  withheld  from 
evil  and  kept  in  good  by  the  Lord ;  and  that  this 
appears  to  them  to  be  of  themselves ;  they  are  again 
elevated  by  the  Lord  to  heaven. 

2d.  It  is  an  error  of  the  age  to  believe  that  the  state  of 
man's  life  can  he  changed  in  a  moment,  and  so  that  man 
from  being  evil  can  become  good,  conseqtienfly  can  be  led 
Old  of  hell  and  transferred  slraighiioay  to  heaven;  and 
this  from  the  immediate  mercy  of  the  Lord.  They  labor 
under  this  error  who  separate  charity  from  faith,  and 


Ji  EG  EX  En  A  TTON  GRA  D  UAL. 


267 


place  salvation  in  faith  alone;  for  tliey  imagine  that 
merely  thinking  about  and  uttering  the  formulas  of 
that  faith,  if  done  with  trust  and  confidence,  justifies 
and  saves ;  which  is  also  supposed  by  many  to  be  done 
instantaneously,  and,  if  not  before,  at  about  the  last 
hour  of  a  man's  life.  These  cannot  but  believe  that 
the  state  of  man's  life  can  be  changed  in  a  moment, 
and  man  be  saved  by  immediate  mercy.  But  the 
Lord's  mercy  is  not  immediate,  and  man  cannot  from 
being  evil  become  good,  or  be  led  out  of  hell  and  trans- 
ferred to  heaven  in  a  moment. — All  the  laws  of  Divine 
Providence  have  for  their  end  the  reformation  and  thus 
the  salvation  of  man  ;  therefore  the  changing  of  his 
state  which  by  birth  is  infernal,  into  the  opposite  state 
which  is  heavenly.  And  this  can  only  be  done  grad- 
ually, as  man  withdraws  from  evil  and  its  delight,  and 
enters  into  good  and  its  delight. 

3d.  They  who  so  believe,  do  not  at  all  knoiv  what  evil  is 
or  luhat  (jood  is ;  for  they  do  not  know  that  evil  is  the 
delight  arising  from  the  lust  of  acting  and  of  thinking 
contrary  to  Divine  Order,  and  that  good  is  the  delight 
arising  from  aflfection  for  acting  and  thinking  accord- 
ing to  Divine  Order;  and  that  there  are  myriads  of- 
lusts  entering  into  and  composing  every  particular  evil, 
and  myriads  of  affections  in  like  manner  entering  into 
and  composing  every  particular  good,  and  that  these 
myriads  are  in  such  an  order  and  connection  in  man's 
interiors,  that  one  cannot  be  changed  unless  at  the  same 
time  all  are  changed. — 


268 


THE  SWEDENBOnO  LIBRARY. 


4th.  They  who  believe  in  instantaneous  salvation  and 
immediate  mercy  do  not  know  that  affections  which  belong 
to  the  will,  are  mere  changes  of  state  in  the  purely  organic 
substances  of  the  mind ;  and  that  thoughts,  which  belong  to 
the  understanding,  are  mere  changes  and  variations  of  the 
forms  of  these  substances ;  and  that  the  memoi-y  is  the  per- 
manent state  of  these  changes  and  variations.  —  Thought 
can  uo  more  exist  separate  from  a  substantial  form  than 
sight  separate  from  its  form  which  is  the  eye,  hearing 
from  its  form  which  is  the  ear,  and  taste  from  its  form 
which  is  the  tongue.  Examine  the  brain,  and  you  will 
see  innumerable  substances  and  fibres  likewise,  and  that 
nothing  is  there  which  is  not  organized.  What  need  is 
there  of  any  other  than  this  ocular  proof?  But  it  is 
asked:  What  is  affection  and  what  is  thought  there? 
This  may  be  inferred  from  all  things  in  the  body. 
Many  viscera  are  tliere,  each  fixed  in  its  place,  and 
they  perform  their  functions  by  changes  and  variations 
of  state  and  form  ;  that  they  are  engaged  in  their  own 
functions  is  known — the  stomach,  the  intestines,  the 
kidneys,  the  liver,  the  pancreas,  the  spleen,  and  the 
heart  and  lungs,  each  organ  in  its  own  function  ;  and 
they  are  all  moved  to  their  work  intrinsically  only  ; 
and  to  be  moved  intrinsically,  is  to  be  moved  by  changes 
and  variations  of  state  and  form.  From  this  it  may  be 
evident  that  the  operations  of  the  purely  organic  sub- 
stances of  the  mind  arc  of  the  same  character,  with  the 
difference  that  the  operations  of  the  organic  substances 
of  the  l)ody  are  natural,  but  of  the  mind,  spiritual ;  and 
that  both  make  one  by  correspondences. 


AFFECTIONS  AND  THOUGHTS. 


269 


The  nature  of  the  changes  and  variations  of  state 
and  form  in  the  organic  substances  of  the  mind,  which 
are  affections  and  thoughts,  cannot  be  demonstrated  to 
the  eye,  yet  may  be  seen  as  in  a  mirror  from  the  changes 
and  variations  in  the  state  of  the  lungs  in  speaking  and 
singing.  There  is  also  a  correspondence ;  for  the  tone 
of  the  voice  in  speaking  and  singing,  and  also  its 
articulations,  which  are  the  words  of  speech  and  the 
iiioduhuions  of  singing,  are  made  by  the  lungs;  and 
tone  corresponds  to  affection,  and  speech  to  thought. 
They  are  also  produced  therefrom,  and  this  by  changes 
and  variations  of  the  state  and  form  of  the  organic 
substances  in  the  lungs,  and  from  the  lungs  through  the 
trachea  or  windpipe  in  the  larynx  and  glottis,  and  then 
in  the  tongue,  and  finally  in  the  lips.  The  changes 
and  variations  of  the  state  and  form  of  the  tone  take 
place,  fir.st,  in  the  lungs;  secondly,  in  the  trachea  and 
larynx;  thirdly,  in  the  glottis  by  tlie  various  openings 
of  its  orifice;  fourthly,  in  the  tongue  by  its  various 
applications  to  the  palate  and  teeth  ;  fifthly,  in  the  lips 
by  the  various  forms  they  assume.  From  which  it  is 
ob  vious  that  mere  changes  and  variations,  successively 
continued,  in  the  state  of  these  orgauic  forms  produce 
tones  aud  their  articulations,  which  are  speech  and 
singing. 

Now  because  tone  and  speech  are  produced  from  no 
other  source  than  the  mind's  affections  and  thoughts, 
for  from  these  they  exist,  and  by  no  means  without 
them ;  it  is  plain  that  the  will's  affections  are  changes 
23* 


270 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIJiRARY. 


and  variations  in  the  state  of  the  purely  organic  sub- 
stances of  the  mind,  and  that  the  thoughts  of  tlie  un- 
derstanding are  changes  and  variations  of  the  form  of 
these  substances,  in  the  same  manner  as  in  the  pul- 
monary substances.  Since  affections  and  thoughts  are 
mere  changes  in  the  state  of  the  mind's  forms,  it  follows 
that  memory  is  no  other  than  their  permanent  state ; 
for  all  changes  and  variations  of  state  in  organic  sul>- 
stances  are  such,  that  having  once  become  habitual, 
they  are  permanent.  Thus  the  lungs  are  habituated  to 
produce  various  tones  in  the  trachea,  to  vary  them  in 
the  glottis,  to  articulate  them  with  the  tongue,  and  to 
modify  them  by  the  mouth;  and  when  these  organic 
[actions]  have  once  become  habitual,  they  are  in  the 
organs  and  can  be  reproduced.  These  changes  and 
variations  are  infinitely  more  perfect  in  the  organic 
[structures]  of  the  mind  than  in  those  of  the  body. — 

IV. —  The  permission  of  evil  is  thus  on  account  oj  (he 
end,  which  is  salvntion.  Unless  man  had  full  liberty  of 
tliought  and  will  he  would  not  only  not  be  saved,  but 
would  even  perish  utterly.  Now  hear  the  cause:  Every 
man  is  from  his  birth  in  evils  of  many  kinds.  These 
evils  are  in  his  will  ;  and  what  is  in  the  will  is  loved  ; 
for  what  a  man's  will  favors  from  the  interior,  he  loves  ; 
and  what  he  loves,  his  will  favors ;  and  the  will's  love 
flows  into  the  understanding,  and  there  causes  its  delight 
to  be  felt;  from  this  it  enters  into  the  thoughts,  and 
also  into  the  intentions.  Therefore,  unless  man  were 
permitted  to  think  according  to  his  will's  love,  which  is 


AN  ENEMY  IN  AMBUSH. 


271 


hereditarily  inherent  in  him,  that  love  would  remain 
shut  in,  and  would  nevar  come  into  his  sight;  and 
the  love  of  evil  not  apparent,  is  like  an  enemy  in 
ambush,  matter  in  an  ulcer,  poison  in  the  blood,  or 
corruption  in  the  breast;  which,  if  they  aro  kept  shut 
in,  induce  death.  But  when,  on  the  other  hand,  man 
is  allowed  to  entertain  the  evils  of  his  life's  love  in 
thought,  even  so  far  as  to  intend  the  commission  of 
them,  they  are  healed  by  spiritual  means,  as  diseases 
by  natural  means.— Since,  therefore,  it  is  in  man's 
liberty  to  think  as  he  pleases,  in  order  that  his  life's 
love  may  come  forth  from  its  coverts  into  the  light  of 
his  understanding;  and  as  he  would  not  otlierwise^know 
anything  about  his  evil,  and  therefore  would  not  shun 
it;  it  follows  that  it  would  increase  in  him,  so  far  that 
not  a  spot  capable  of  restoration  would  be  left  iu  him, 
and  hardly  in  his  children,  if  he  had  begotten  any  \ 
for  the  evil  of  the  parent  is  transmitted  to  the  offspring. 
But  the  Lord  provides  that  this  [increase  of  evilj  should 
not  take  place. 

The  Lord  could  heal  the  understanding  in  every  man, 
and  could  so  cause  liim  to  exercise  his  thoughts  not  in' 
evil,  but  iu  good.  This  he  could  do  by  various  fears, 
by  miracles,  by  talking  with  the  departed,  and  by  vi- 
sions a:nd  dreams.  But  to  heal  the  understanding  only, 
is  merely  to  heal  man  externally ;  for  the  understand- 
ing with  its  thought  is  the  external  of  man's  life,  and 
the  will  with  its  affection  is  the  internal.  Therefore 
the  healing  of  the  understanding  only  would  be  like 


272 


THE  SWEDEXnOKG  LID  HA  II Y. 


a  palliative  healing,  whereby  the  interior  malignity, 
shut  iu  and  restrained  from  geing  out,  would  consume 
first  the  near  and  tlien  the  remote  parts,  until  the  whole 
were  mortified.  It  is  the  will  itself  that  must  be  healed  : 
not  by  an  influx  of  the  understanding  into  it,  because 
that  does  not  take  place,  but  through  instruction  and 
exhortation  by  the  understanding.  If  the  understand- 
ing only  were  healed,  man  would  become  like  a  dead 
body  embalmed  or  covered  over  with  fragrant  aroniat- 
ics  and  roses. — 

Man  is  permitted  to  entertain  evils  in  his  thouglit, 
even  so  far  as  to  intend  [to  commit]  them,  in  order,  as 
before  said,  that  they  may  be  removed  by  means  of 
civil,  moral  and  spiritual  things ;  which  is  done  when 
he  thinks  that  any  evil  is  contrary  to  what  is  just  and 
equitable,  honest  and  becoming,  good  and  true;  thus 
contrary  to  the  tranquillity,  joy  and  happiness  of  life. 
By  these  three  means  the  Lord  heals  the  love  of  man's 
will,  first  by  fear,  and  afterwards  by  love.  But  still 
evils  aie  not  separated  from  or  cast  out  of  man,  but 
only  removed  to  the  circumference;  and  when  they  are 
there,  and  the  good  in  the  centre,  then  evils  do  not  ap- 
pear ;  for  whatever  is  at  the  centre  in  man,  is  directly 
under  his  view.    (D.  P.,  n.  275-283.) 


XV. 

DIVINE  PROVrDFNCE  EXISTS  ALIKE  WITH  THE 
WICKED  AND  THE  GOOD. 

AX  cannot  see  that  the  Divine  Providence  is 
in  the  most  minute  particulars  of  the  un- 
derstanding and  will,  or,  what  is  the  same, 
in  the  most  minute  particulars  of  the  thoughts 
and  affections,  in  every  man,  the  wicked  as  well  as  the 
good.  He  conftises  himself  especially  by  the  idea,  that 
thus  evils  also  would  be  from  the  Lord.  Yet  not  one 
iota  of  evil  is  from  Him,  but  from  man,  through  his 
confirming  in  himself  the  appearance  that  he  exercises 
thought  and  will,  and  speaks  and  acts  from  himself. 
This  will  be  seen  in  what  now  follows. 

I. —  Tlie  Divine  Providence,  not  only  with  the  good  but 
also  with  the  wicked,  is  universal  in  the  most  minute  pur- 
ticidars;  and  yet  it  is  not  in  their  evils. —  It  is  said  that 
the  Divine  Providence  is  in  the  most  minute  particulars 
of  man's  thoughts  and  atfections,  even  so  far  that  man 
is  unable  to  exercise  thought  or  will  of  himself  But 
because  it  is  said  that  he  can  also  do  so  from  hell,  and 
again  from  his  selfhood,  it  seems  to  be  contradictory, 
and  yet  it  is  not,  us  will  be  seen  in  what  follows. 

S  273 


274 


THE  SWEDENDORG  LIIUiARY. 


That  no  one  can  think  from  himself,  bnt  from  the 
Lord,  all  tlie  angels  of  heaven  confess;  while  all  the 
spirits  of  hell  say  that  no  one  can  think  from  any  other 
than  himself. —  The  whole  of  thought  and  affection,  even 
with  evil  spirits,  flows  in  from  heaven  ;  but  the  influent 
good  is  there  turned  into  evil,  and  the  truth  into  falsity, 
thus  everything  into  its  opposite.  This  was  shown  thus : 
A  truth  from  the  Word  was  sent  down  from  heaven, 
and  was  received  by  those  who  were  in  the  upper  hell, 
and  by  them  it  was  transmitted  to  the  lower  hells,  down 
even  to  the  lowest.  And  on  the  way  the  truth  was 
gradually  turned  into  falsity,  and  finally  into  a  falsity 
totally  opposite  to  the  truth  ;  and  they  with  whom  it 
was  so  changed,  thought  according  to  that  falsity  as  if 
from  themselves,  and  did  not  know  otherwise,  when  yet 
it  was  a  truth  eflluent  from  heaven,  but  on  the  way  to 
theiowest  hell  so  falsified  and  perverted.  The  same 
takes  place  with  good  ;  this  flowing  from  heaven,  is 
gradually  turned  into  the  opposite  evil.  From  which 
it  was  plain  that  the  good  and  truth  proceeding  from 
the  Lord,  and  received  by  those  who  are  in  evil  and 
falsity,  are  transmuted  and  pass  into  a  form  so  dif- 
ferent that  their  original  form  does  not  appear.  The 
same  process  takes  place  in  every  wicked  man  ;  for  he 
as  to  his  spirit  is  in  hell. 

No  one  in  hell  thinks  from  himself,  but  from  others 
about  him,  and  these  again  from  others ;  and  thoughts 
and  affections  pass  in  order  from  one  society  to  another 
without  any  ouc  knowing  but  that  they  are  from  him- 


THOUGHT  AND  VOLITION  FLOW  IN.  275 

self.    Some  who  believed  that  their  thought  and  voli- 
tion were  from  themselves  were  sent  to  a  society  and 
communication  with  the  neighboring  societies,  to  which 
they  had  also  been  accustomed  to  extend  their  thoughts, 
was  intercepted,  and  they  were  detained  in  that  socfety  ,' 
and  then  they  were  told  to  think  differently  from  the 
spirits  of  that  society,  and  to  compel  themselves  to  think 
contrary  to  them  ;  but  they  confessed  that  it  was  im- 
possible.    This  was  done  with  many,  and  moreover 
with  Leibnitz,  who  was  also  convinced  that  no  one  thinks 
from  himself,  but  from  others;  and  that  these  again 
do  not  think  from  themselves,  but  all  by  influx  from 
heaven;  and  heaven  by  influx  from  the  Lord.  Some 
meditated  about  this  matter,  and  said  that  it  was  as- 
tonishing, and  that  scarcely  any  one  could  be  brought 
to  beheve  it,  because  it  was  contrary  to  the  appearance  • 
yet  they  could  not  deny  it,  because  it  had  been  fully 
shown. — 

That  all  of  man's  thought  and  volition,  and  his  con- 
sequent speech  and  action,  flow  into  him  from  one  only 
Fountain  of  life,  and  yet  this  sole  Fountain  of  life  which 
IS  the  Lord,  is  not  the  cause  of  man's  tliinkiug  what  is 
evil  and  false,  may  be  illustrated  by  the  follou^ng  facts 
HI  the  natural  world :  From  the  sun  of  this  world  pro- 
ceed heat  and  light,  and  the  two  flow  into  all  subjects 
and  objects  visible  to  the  eye ;  not  only  into  good  sub- 
jects and  beautiful  objects,  but  also  into  evil  subjects 
and  ugly  objects,  producing  in  them  various  effects  :  for 
they  not  only  flow  into  trees  which  bear  good  fruit,  but 


276 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


also  into  trees  whicli  bear  bad  fruit,  and  even  into  the 
fruit  itself  and  cause  it  to  grow ;  in  like  manner  they 
flow  into  good  seed  and  also  into  tares  ;  then  again  into 
shrubs  that  have  a  good  use  or  are  healing,  and  also  into 
shrubs  that  have  an  evil  use  or  are  poisonous ;  and  yet 
it  is  the  same  heat  and  the  same  light,  in  which  there  is 
no  cause  of  evil ;  but  this  is  in  the  recipient  subjects 
and  objects.  The  heat  which  hatches  eggs  that  contain 
owls  and  vipers,  operates  in  the  same  way  as  that 
which  hatches  eggs  containing  doves,  beautiful  birds,  or 
swans. — ^^The  heat  influent  into  marshy,  stercoraceous, 
putrid  and  cadaverous  substances,  operates  the  same  as 
it  does  when  influent  into  things  vinous  and  fragrant,  or 
into  living  plants  and  animals.  Who  does  not  see  that 
the  cause  is  not  in  the  heat,  but  in  the  recipient  subject? 
The  same  light  also  presents  pleasing  colors  in  one  ob- 
ject, and  disagreeable  colors  in  another ;  nay,  it  exhibits 
its  lustre  and  efl^'ulgence  in  objects  that  are  clear,  and  in 
those  verging  to  black  it  becomes  dim  and  dusky. 

It  is  similar  in  the  spiritual  world.  There  are  heat 
and  light  there  also  from  their  own  Sun,  which  is  the 
Lord :  and  they  flow  from  it  into  their  subjects  and 
objects,  which  are  there  angels  and  spirits  —  more  par- 
ticularly their  voluntary  and  intellectual  faculties.  The 
heat  there  is  the  proceeding  Divine  Love,  and  the  light 
is  the  proceeding  Divine  Wisdom ;  they  are  not  the 
cause  of  their  difl'erent  reception  by  one  and  another ; 
for  the  Lord  says,  that  the  Father  "  maketh  his  sun  to 
rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and  seudeth  rain  on 


TBE  RECEIVER  RESPONSIBLE.  277 


the  just  and  on  the  unjust,"  Matt.  v.  45.  In  the  highest 
spiritual  sense  the  sun  means  the  Divine  Love,  and  raiu 
the  Divine  Wisdom. 

If  everything  of  which  man  thinks  flows  into  him 
from  others,  it  seems  as  if  tlie  blame  would  rest  upon 
those  from  whom  it  flows.  But  yet  the  real  blame  is 
with  him  who  receives  it ;  for  he  receives  it  as  his  own  ; 
nor  does  he  know,  nor  does  he  wish  to  know,  anything 
to  the  contrary  ;  for  every  one  wishes  to  be  his  own,  and 
to  be  led  by  himself,  especially  to  exercise  thought  and 
will  from  himself ;  for  this  is  freedom  itself,  which  seems 
to  every  man  to  be  his  very  selfhood.  Therefore  if  he 
knew  that  his  thouglit  and  volition  were  influent  from 
another,  he  would  seem  to  himself  like  one  bound  and 
captive  —  no  longer  independent  —  and  thus  would 
perish  all  the  delight  of  his  life,  and  finally  his 
humanity  itself.  That  such  is  the  truth  I  have  often 
seen  proved. —  When  a  man  knows  that  anything  is 
evil,  and  therefore  wishes  to  shun  and  desist  from  it,  he 
is  then  liberated  by  the  Lord  from  the  society  [of 
spirits]  in  which  that  evil  prevails,  and  transferred  to 
one  in  which  it  does  not ;  but  if  he  knows  a  tiling  to  be 
evil  and  does  not  shun  it,  then  blame  is  imputed  to  him, 
and  he  becomes  guilty  of  that  evil. — 

II. —  The  wicked  continually  lead  themselves  into  evils, 
but  the  Lord  continually  leads  them  away  from  evils.  The 
nature  of  the  Divine  Providence  with  the  good  may  be 
more  easily  bompreheuded  than  its  nature  with  the 
wicked ;  and  as  we  are  now  treating  of  the  nature  of 
24 


278 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRAIIT. 


the  Divine  Providence,  it  shall  be  explained  in  the  fol- 
lowing order : — 

1st.  In  every  particular  evil  there  are  things  innumer- 
able. In  the  sight  of  man  every  evil  appears  as  one 
simple  thing ;  so  appear  hatred  and  revenge,  theft  and 
fraud,  adultery  and  fornication,  pride  and  haughtiness, 
and  so  on  ;  and  it  is  not  known  that  in  every  evil  there 
are  things  innumerable.  They  are  more  numerous  than 
the  fibres  and  vessels  in  a  man's  body.  For  a  wicked 
man  is  a  hell  in  miniature,  and  hell  consists  of  myriads 
of  myriads,  and  every  one  there  is  in  form  like  a  man, 
though  monstrous,  and  all  the  fibres  and  all  the  vessels 
in  him  are  inverted.  —  Therefore  a  wicked  man  is  one 
evil  composed  of  various  and  innumerable  evils,  each 
one  of  which  is  a  distinct  evil  and  is  called  a  lust  of 
evil.  From  which  it  follows  that  all  these  evils  are  to 
be  corrected  and  changed  by  the  Lord,  in  the  order  in 
which  they  exist,  that  man  may  be  reformed  :  and  that 
this  cannot  be  done  except  by  the  Lord's  Divine  Provi- 
dence progressively  [operative]  from  the  first  to  the 
very  last  period  of  his  life.  Every  lust  of  evil  appears 
in  hell,  when  it  is  represented,  like  a  noxious  animal,  as 
a  dragon,  or  a  lizard,  or  a  viper,  or  an  owl,  and  so  on  ; 
so  likewise  appear  the  lusts  of  evil  in  a  wicked  man, 
when  he  is  looked  at  by  the  angels.  All  these  forms  of 
lusts  are  to  be  changed  one  by  one.  The  man  himself, 
Avho  in  spirit  appears  as  a  monstrous  man  or  as  a  devil, 
is  to  be  so  changed  as  to  be  like  a  beautiful  angel ;  and 
every  lust  of  evil  is  to  be  so  changed  as  to  appear  like 


FORCE  OF  EVIL  CUMULATIVE.  279 


a  lamb  or  a  sheep,  a  pigeon  or  a  turtle-dove,  precisely 
as  the  good  affections  of  the  angels  in  heaven  appear 
when  they  are  represented. — 

2d.  A  wicked  man  from  himself  continually  leads  lihii- 
self  more  deeply  into  his  evils.  The  real  cause  of  which 
is,  that  he  introduces  himself  more  and  more  interiorly, 
and  also  more  and  more  deeply,  into  infernal  societies, 
as  his  will  and  conduct  are  evil.  Therefore  the  delight 
of  evil  increases  in  him ;  and  this  so  occupies  his 
thoughts,  that  at  length  there  is  nothing  sweeter  to  his 
sense.  And  he  who  introduces  himself  moi'e  interiorly 
and  more  deeply  into  infernal  societies,  becomes  as  if  he 
were  wound  about  with  cords.  But  so  long  as  he  lives 
in  the  world  he  does  not  feel  the  cords.  They  are  like 
cords  of  soft  wool,  or  of  fine  threads  of  silk,  which  he 
loves  because  they  titillate  ;  but  after  death  the  cords 
from  being  soft  become  hard,  and  instead  of  titillating 
they  hurt.  That  the  delight  of  evil  receives  augmen- 
tations, is  known  from  thefts,  robberies,  depredations, 
revenge,  tyranny,  [the  love  of]  money,  and  other 
things.  Who  does  not  experience  an  exaltation  of 
delight  in  these  things,  according  to  success  in  them 
and  the  unprohibited  practice  of  them?  It  is  well 
known  that  a  thief  experiences  such  delight  in  theft 
that  he  cannot  desist,  and  what  is  wonderful,  that  he 
loves  one  stolen  coin  more  than  ten  given  him  as  a 
present. —  But  it  is  not  known  that  this  arises  from  the 
fact  that  he  introduces  himself  more  and  more  interi- 
orly into  infernal  societies,  according  as  he  commits 


280  THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


evil  deeds  from  will  and  from  thought  at  the  same 
time :  if  they  are  in  thought  only,  and  not  in  will,  he 
is  not  yet  [connected]  with  evil  in  an  infernal  society ; 
but  he  enters  into  the  society  when  they  are  also  in  his 
Avill.  If  he  then  also  thinks  any  evil  to  be  contrary  to 
the  precepts  of  the  decalogue,  and  regards  these  pre- 
cepts as  divine,  he  then  commits  it  from  purpose,  and 
thereby  sinks  himself  deeply  [in  an  infernal  society], 
from  which  he  cannot  be  released  except  by  actual  re- 
pentance. It  must  be  known  that  every  man  as  to  his 
spirit  is  in  the  spiritual  world,  in  some  society  there ;  a 
wicked  man  in  an  infei-nal  society,  and  a  good  man  in 
a  heavenly  society.  He  also  appears  there  sometimes, 
when  he  is  engaged  in  profound  meditation. 

3d.  The  Divine  Providence  with  the  wicked  is  a  con- 
tinual permission  of  evil,  to  the  end  that  there  may  be  a 
continual  withdratval  from  it;  because  nothing  but  evil 
can  come  forth  from  their  life  ;  and  evil  of  life  is  not  in- 
duced upon  the  will  and  through  it  upon  the  thought  by 
the  Lord,  but  by  man  ;  and  this  is  called  permission. 
Now  as  all  things  in  which  a  wicked  man  exercises  his 
will  and  thought  are  of  permission,  it  is  asked,  What 
then  is  the  Divine  Providence,  which  is  said  to  be  in 
the  most  minute  particulars  with  every  man,  wicked 
and  good  alike?  It  consists  in  this:  that  it  permits 
pontinually  on  account  of  the  end,  and  permits  such 
things  as  pertain  to  the  end  and  no  others ;  and  that 
the  evils  which  come  forth  by  permission,  it  continually 
examines,  separates  and  purifies,  removing  the  discord- 


WITHDRAWAL  FROM  EVILS.  281 


ant,  and  discharging  them  by  unknown  ways.  These 
processes  take  phice  especially  in  man's  interior  will, 
and  from  this  in  his  interior  thought. 

The  Divine  Providence  is  also  continual  in  this: 
tliat  it  watches  lest  what  is  to 'be  removed  and  dis- 
charged should  be  again  received  by  the  will ;  since 
everything  that  is  received  by  the  will  is  appropriated 
to  man  ;  but  whatever  is  received  by  thought  and  not 
by  the  will,  is  separated  and  banished.  This  is  the 
Lord's  continual  Providence  with  the  wicked,  which, 
as  before  said,  is  a  continual  permission,  to  the  end 
tliat  there  may  be  a  continual  withdrawal.  Of  these 
things  man  hardly  knows  anything,  because  he  has  no 
perception  of  them  ;  and  the  primary  cause  of  his 
having  no  perception  of  them  is,  that  they  are  evils 
belonging  to  the  lusts  of  his  life's  love,  and  these  evils 
are  not  felt  as  evils  but  as  delights,  to  which  no  one 
pays  attention.  "Who  attends  to  the  delights  of  his 
love  ?  Yet  in  them  his  thought  floats,  as  a  boat  car- 
ried in  the  current  of  a  river,  and  they  are  perceived 
as  a  fragrant  atmosphere,  which  is  inhalecl  with  full 
breath. — 

4th.  Tlie  withdrmval  of  man  from  evil  is  cffeded  by 
the  Lord  in  innumerable  and  most  secret  ivays.  Of  these 
ways  only  a  few  have  been  disclosed  to  me. —  The 
means  are  chiefly  the  delights  of  meditation,  thouglit 
and  reflection  upon  certain  ends  which  are  uses ;  and 
the  ends  which  are  uses  are  as  many  as  are  the  par- 
ticular and  se])arate  interests  of  any  one's  business  and 
2-1* 


282 


THE  SWEDENBOUG  LIBRARY. 


office. —  Take  for  example  an  unjust  judge,  who  regards 
gain  or  friendship  as  the  ends  or  uses  of  his  office.  In- 
teriorly he  is  continually  occupied  with  these  things, 
but  exteriorly  with  the  endeavor  to  act  like  a  lawyer 
and  a  just  man.  He  is  continually  in  the  delight  of 
meditation,  thought  and  reflection,  with  the  intention 
of  bending,  turning,  adapting,  and  adjusting  the  right, 
to  make  it  appear  conformable  to  law  and  analogous  to 
justice.  Nor  does  he  know  that  his  internal  delight  con- 
sists of  cunning,  frauds,  deceits,  clandestine  thefts  and 
many  other  evils ;  and  that  this  delight  composed  of  so 
Muuiy  delights  of  the  lusts  of  evil,  predominates  in  every- 
tliing  belonging  to  his  external  thought,  in  which  reside 
tlie  delights  of  the  appearance  that  he  is  just  and  sin- 
cere. Into  these  external  delights  the  internal  delights 
are  emitted,  and  they  are  commingled  like  food  in  the 
stomach,  and  are  there  separated,  purified  and  con- 
ducted away.  But  yet  none  but  the  more  baneful  de- 
liglits  of  the  lusts  of  evil  [are  so  treated]:  for  with  a 
wicked  man  there  takes  place  no  separation,  purifica- 
tion and  dj-awiug  off,  except  of  the  more  grievous  evils 
iVom  the  less  grievous ;  while  with  a  good  man  there 
takes  place  not  only  the  separation,  purification  and 
drawing  off  of  the  more  grievous  evils,  but  also  of  the 
less  grievous;  and  this  is  effected  by  the  delights  of 
affections  for  what  is  good  and  true,  just  and  sincere; 
into  which  affections  man  enters  so  far  as  he  regards 
evils  as  sins,  and  therefore  shuns  and  is  averse  to  them, 
and  still  more  if  he  fights  against  them. 


MEAXS  OF  PURIFICATION. 


283 


These  are  the  rueaus  whereby  the  Lord  purifies  all 
who  are  saved.  He  purifies  them  also  by  external 
means,  which  are  those  of  fame  and  honor,  and  some- 
times of  wealth  ;  but  yet  in  these  latter  are  implanted 
by  the  Lord  the  delights  of  affections  for  the  good  and 
true,  whereby  they  are  arranged  and  adapted  so  as  to 
become  delights  of  the  love  of  the  neighbor. — All  hell 
is  nothing  but  a  form  of  all  the  lusts  of  evil,  and  there 
is  no  lust  of  evil  exactly  the  same  as  another,  nor  can 
there  be  to  eternity.  And  of  these  innumerable  lusts 
man  knows  scarcely  anything,  much  less  of  how  they 
are  connected.  And  yet  they  are  continually  permitted 
by  the  Lord  through  his  Divine  Providence  to  come 
forth,  to  the  end  that  they  may  be  removed,  which  is 
done  in  the  whole  order  and  series :  [for]  a  wicked  man 
is  a  hell  in  miniature,  as  a  good  man  is  a  heaven  iu 
miniature. 

That  man's  withdrawal  from  evil  is  effected  by  the 
Lord  in  innumerable  and  moreover  in  most  mysterious 
ways,  cannot  be  better  seen,  and  so  concluded  upon, 
than  from  the  secret  operations  of  the  soul  in  the  bodv. 
Those  of  which  man  knows  are  as  follows :  that  the  food 
which  he  intends  to  eat  he  looks  at,  perceives  by  its 
odor,  hungers  for,  tastes,  comminutes  with  his  teeth, 
rolls  to  the  oesophagus  with  his  tongue,  and  so  into  the 
stomach  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand  the  secret  operations 
of  the  soul,  of  which  man  knows  nothing  because  he 
does  not  feel  them,  are  these :  that  the  stomach  rolls 
about  the  food  received,  opens  and  separates  it  by  means 


284  THE  SWEDENDORG  LIBRARY. 


of  solvents,  that  is,  digests  it,  conveys  the  suitable  por- 
tions of  it  to  the  little  mouths  there  opening  and  to  the 
veins,  which  drink  it  in  ;  that  it  sends  away  some  to  the 
blood,  some  to  the  lymphatic  vessels,  some  to  the  lacteal 
vessels  of  the  mesentery,  and  some  down  to  the  intes- 
tines; finally,  that  the  chyle  conveyed  through  the 
thoracic  duct  from  its  receptacle  in  the  mesentery  is 
carried  into  the  vena  cava,  and  so  into  the  heart,  and 
from  the  heart  into  the  lungs,  and  from  them  through 
the  left  ventricle  of  the  heart  into  the  aorta,  and  from 
this  by  the  branches  of  the  aorta  to  the  viscera  of  the 
wliole  body,  and  also  to  the  kidneys,  in  each  one  of 
which  viscera  there  takes  place  a  separation  and  puri- 
fication of  the  blood,  and  a  removal  from  it  of  hetero- 
geneous substances;  not  to  speak  of  how  the  heart 
presents  its  blood,  when  defecated  in  the  lungs,  to  the 
brain,  which  is  done  through  the  arteries  called  the 
carotids,  and  how  the  brain  returns  the  blood,  vivified, 
to  the  vena  cava  (just  above  where  the  thoracic  duct 
introduces  the  chyle),  and  so  back  again  to  the  heart. 

Tlkese  and  innumerable  others  besides,  are  the  secret 
opei'atious  of  the  soul  in  the  body.  Man  feels  none  of 
these  operations,  and  he  who  is  not  ver.sed  in  the  science 
of  anatomy  knows  nothing  of  them.  Yet  similar  things 
take  place  in  the  interiors  of  man's  mind  ;  for  nothing 
can  take  place  in  the  body  except  from  the  mind,  be- 
cause the  mind  is  man's  spirit, —  with  tlie  sole  difference 
that  whatever  takes  place  in  the  body  takes  place  natu- 
rally, and  whatever  takes  place  in  the  mind  takes  place 


MAN  CANXOT  REFORM  HIMSELF. 


285 


Bpiritually ;  the  similitude  is  complete.  Evidently, 
therefore,  the  Divine  Providence  operates  in  innumera- 
ble and  moreover  in  most  secret  ways  in  every  man, 
and  its  continual  end  is  to  purify  him,  because  its  end 
is  to  save  him.  And  nothing  more  is  incumbent  upon 
him  than  to  remove  the  evils  in  the  external  man.  For 
the  rest  the  Lord  provides,  if  He  is  entreated. 

III. — The  ivicked  cannot  by  the  Lord  be  wholly  led  away 
from  enl  and  into  good,  so  long  as  they  believe  that  their 
oion  intelligence  is  everything,  and  the  Divine  Providence 
nothing.  It  seems  as  if  man  could  withdraw  himself 
from  evil,  provided  he  thinks  this  or  that  to  be  contrary 
to  the  common  good,  contrary  to  what  is  useful,  and 
contrary  to  the  law  of  the  nation  and  of  nations.  This 
a  wicked  man  can  do  as  well  as  a  good  one,  provided  he 
is  such  by  nature  or  by  practice  that  in  himself  he 
can  with  clearness  think  analytically  and  rationally. 
Nevertheless,  he  cannot  withdraw  himself  from  evil. 
This  is  because  the  faculty  of  understanding  and  per- 
ceiving subjects,  even  abstractly,  is  given  by  the  Lord 
to  every  man,  the  wicked  and  good  alike.  Yet  man 
by  that  faculty  cannot  deliver  himself  from  evil ;  for 
evil  belongs  to  the  will,  and  the  understanding  does  not 
flow  into  the  will,  except  with  light  only,  enlightening 
and  teaching;  and  if  the  heat  of  the  will,  that  is,  the 
man's  life's  love,  is  aglow  with  the  lust  of  evil,  it  is  then 
frigid  as  to  affection  for  the  good.  Therefore  he  does 
not  receive,  but  either  rejects  or  extinguishes  it,  or  by 
some  contrived  falsehood  turns  it  into  evil. — 


286 


THE  SWEDENBOna  LIBRARY. 


1st.  Man's  own  intelligence,  when  his  will  is  in  evil,  sees 
nothing  but  falsity,  and  does  not  wish  to,  and  cannot,  see 
anything  else.  This  has  very  often  been  shown  me  in 
the  spiritual  world.  Every  man,  when  he  becomes  a 
spirit,  which  takes  place  after  death,  is  introduced  alter- 
nately into  the  two  states  of  his  life  —  the  external  and 
tlie  internal.  When  he  is  in  his  external  state  he  speaks 
and  acts  rationally  and  wisely,  exactly  as  a  rational  and 
wise  man  does  in  the  world ;  he  can  also  teach  others 
nuinj'  things  which  pertain  to  moral  and  civil  life;  and 
if  he  had  been  a  preacher,  he  can  also  teach  what  per- 
tains to  spiritual  life.  But  when  from  this  external 
.state  he  is  intromitted  into  his  internal,  the  external 
being  put  to  sleep  and  the  internal  awakened,  then,  if 
he  is  wicked,  the  scene  is  changed.  From  being  rational 
he  becomes  sensual,  and  from  being  wise  he  bccoines 
foolish  ;  for  he  then  thinks  from  the  evil  of  his  will  and 
its  delight  (that  is,  from  his  own  intelligence),  and  sees 
nothing  but  falsity,  and  does  nothing  but  evil,  believing 
that  wickedness  is  wisdom  and  that  cunning  is.prudence, 
and  from  his  own  intelligence  thinking  himself  a  deity, 
and  drinking  in  nefarious  arts  with  his  whole  mind. 
Such  madness  I  have  often  seen,  and  I  have  also  seen 
spirits  introduced  into  these  alternate  states  two  or 
three  times  within  an  hour.  And  then  it  was  given 
them  to  see  their  foolishness,  and  acknowledge  it;  but 
still  they  did  not  wish  to  remain  in  a  rational  and  moral 
state,  but  spontaneously  turned  themselves  back  to  their 
internal  state,  which  was  sensual  and  foolish ;  for  they 


DELIVERANCE  FROM  EVIL. 


287 


loved  this  better  thau  the  other,  because  in  it  resided 
the  delight  of  their  life's  love. 

Who  can  believe  that  such  is  the  nature  of  a  wicked 
man  beneath  the  surface,  and  that  he  undergoes  such  a 
metamorphosis  when  he  gets  beneath  it?  From  this 
single  experiment  may  be  seen  what  the  nature  of  mans 
own  intelligence  is  when  he  thinks  and  acts  from  the  evil 
of  his  will.  AVith  the  good  it  is  different;  these,  when 
intromitted  from  their  external  state  into  their  inter- 
nal, become  still  wiser  and  better. 

2d.  The  Divine  Providence  continualbj  causes  man  to 
see  truth;  and  moreover  gives  him  an  affection  for  the  per- 
ception and  reception  of  it ;  because  it  acts  from  the  in- 
terior, and  through  it  flows  into  exteriors,  or  acts  from 
the  spiritual  into  the  things  that  are  in  the  natural 
man,  and  by  the  light  of  heaven  illumines  the  under- 
standing, and  by  the  heat  of  heaven  vivifies  the  will.— 

3d.  Man  is  withdrawn  from  evil,  not  by  himself,  but  by 
the  Lord.  When  the  Divine  Providence  gives  to  man 
to  see  truth,  and  at  the  same  time  gives  him  an  afiection 
for  it,  he  may  be  withdrawn  from  evil,  because  trutli 
dictates  [what  ought  to  be  done].  And  when  the  will 
does  this,  it  unites  with  tlie  truth,  and  in  itself  turns 
the  true  into  the  good ;  for  the  truth  becomes  a  part 
of  its  love,  and  that  which  belongs  to  love  is  good.  All 
reformation  is  effected  by  truth,  and  not  without  it; 
for  without  truth  the  will  is  continually  in  its  evil,  and 
if  it  consults  the  understanding,  is  not  instructed,  but 
its  evil  is  confirmed  by  falsities.    As  to  intelligence, 


288  THE  SWEDENBORO  LIBRARY. 


this  also  seems  to  be  man's  own  and  proper  to  him,  as 
well  with  a  good  man  as  a  wicked  one ;  and  moreover 
a  good  man  is  bound  to  act  from  iutelligence  as  his 
own,  just  as  much  as  a  wicked  man;  but  he  who  be- 
lieves in  a  Divine  Providence  is  withdrawn  from  evil, 
while  he  who  does  not,  is  not  withdrawn :  moreover,  he 
does  believe  in  a  Divine  Providence  who  acknowledges 
that  evil  is  sin,  and  wishes  to  be  withdrawn  from  it ; 
and  he  does  not  so  believe,  who  does  not  so  acknowl- 
edge and  wish. — 

The  Lord  governs  the  wicked  who  in  the  world  are 
in  hell,  because  man  as  to  his  spirit  is  in  the  spiritual 
world,  and  in  some  society  there;  in  an  infernal  so- 
ciety if  he  is  wicked,  and  in  a  heavenly  society  if  he 
is  good.  For  man's  mind,  which  is  essentially  spii-- 
itual,  cannot  be  anywhere  but  among  the  spiritual,  into 
whose  society  it  also  enters  after  death.  That  it  is  so 
has  also  been  stated  and  shown  above.  But  man  is 
not  in  a  spiritual  society  precisely  like  a  spirit  who  is 
enrolled  in  it,  for  he  is  continually  in  a  state  to  be  re- 
formed. Therefore  he  is  transferred  by  the  Lord  from 
one  infernal  society  to  another  according  to  his  life  and 
its  changes  if  he  is  wicked.  While,  if  he  suilers  him- 
self to  be  reformed  he  is  released  from  hell  and  intro- 
duced into  heaven,  and  there  also  is  transferred  from 
one  society  to  another,  and  this  up  to  the  time  of  his 
death.  After  this,  he  is  no  longer  transferred  from  one 
society  there  to  another,  —  Therefore  when  man  dies  he 
is  enrolled  in  his  own  place.    (D.  P.,  n.  285-307.) 


XVI. 

DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  APPROPRIATES  NEITHER 
EVIL  NOR  GOOD  TO  ANY  ONE,-  HUT  MAN'S 
OWN  PRUDENCE  APPROPRIATES  BOTH. 

T  is  believed  by  almost  every  ouc  that  man  ex- 
ercises thought  and  will  from  himself,  and  con- 
sequently speaks  and  acts  from  himself.  Who, 
while  [judging]  from  himself,  can  believe  other- 
wise? since  the  aj)pearance  that  such  is  the  fact,  is 
so  strong  that  it  differs  nothing  from  actually  exer- 
cising thought  and  will,  and  speaking  and  acting,  from 
himself,  which  nevertheless  is  not  possible. —  All  of 
man's  thought  and  volition  inflow ;  and  since  all  speech 
flows  from  thought,  as  an  effect  from  its  cause,  and  in 
like  manner  all  action  from  will,  all  which  a  man  says 
and  does  inflows  also,  although  derivatively  or  medi- 
ately. That  all  which  a  man  sees,  hears,  smells,  tastes 
and  feels,  inflows,  cannot  be  denied ;  why  not  all  of 
man's  thought  and  volition  ?  Can  there  be  any  diff"er- 
euce,  except  that  into  the  organs  of  the  external  senses 
or  of  the  body,  inflow  such  things  as  are  in  the  natural 
world,  while  into  the  organic  substances  of  the  internal 
senses,  or  of  the  mind,  inflow  such  things  as  are  in  the 
spiritual  world  ?  Consequently  that,  as  the  organs  of 
the  external  senses,  or  of  the  body,  are  receptacles  of 
25  T  289 


290 


THE  SWEDEN IWRG  LUiRAUY. 


natural  objects,  so  the  organic  substances  of  the  internal 
senses,  or  of  the  mind,  are  receptacles  of  spiritual  ob- 
jects.— 

I. —  What  self-derived  prudence  is,  and  what  the  pru- 
dence is  that  is  not  self-derived.  They  are  in  self-derived 
prudence  who  confirm  in  themselves  appearances  and 
make  them  truths ;  especially  the  appearance  that  self- 
derived  prudence  is  everything ;  and  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence nothing  but  some  universal  [law],  which  yet  is 
nothing  without  the  particulars  that  constitute  it.  They 
are  also  involved  in  fallacies  ;  for  every  appearance 
confirmed  as  a  truth  is  a  fallacy ;  and  so  far  as  they 
confirm  themselves  by  fallacies  they  become  natural- 
ists; and  so  far  they  believe  nothing  but  what  they 
are  able  at  the  same  time  to  perceive  by  some  of  the 
bodily  senses,  chiefly  that  of  sight,  because  this  sense 
especially  acts  as  one  with  thought ;  finally  they  become 
sensual.  And  if  they  confirm  themselves  in  favor  of 
nature  and  against  God,  they  close  the  interiors  of 
their  minds,  interposing  a  veil  as  it  were. —  They  are 
more  shrewd  and  cunning  than  others,  and  are  ingenious 
reasoners;  and  they  call  their  shrewdness  and  cunning 
intelligence  and  wisdom ;  nor  do  they  know  otherwise. 
Those  who  are  not  of  that  character  they  call  simple 
and  stupid ;  especially  those  who  worship  God  and 
acknowledge  a  Divine  Providence.  As  to  the  interior 
principles  of  their  minds,  of  which  they  know  but 
little,  they  are  like  those  who  are  called  Machiavel- 
lians, who  regard  murder,  adultery,  theft  and  false- 


TWO  KINDS  OF  PRUDENCE. 


291 


witness,  viewed  in  themselves,  as  of  no  account;  and 
if  they  reason  against  tliem,  it  is  merely  from  prudence, 
lest  they  should  appear  to  be  what  they  are.  Of  man's 
life  in  the  world,  they  merely  think  that  it  is  like  the 
life  of  a  beast;  and  of  man's  life  after  death,  that  it  is 
like  a  living  exhalation,  which  ascending  from  tlie 
corpse  or  the  grave,  falls  back  again,  and  so  dies. 
From  this  madness  arises  the  idea  that  spirits  and 
angels  are  made  of  air,  and,  with  those  who  have  been 
taught  to  believe  in  eternal  life,  that  the  souls  of  men 
are  of  the  same  nature,  and  thus  do  not  see,  hear  and 
talk,  are  therefore  blind,  deaf  and  dumb,  and  in  their 
aerial  element  only  think.  They  say.  How  can  the  soul 
be  anything  else?  Have  not  the  external  senses  died 
with  the  body?  We  cannot  resume  them  before  the 
soul  is  reunited  to  the  body.  And  because  they  can 
only  comprehend  the  state  of  the  soul  after  death  sen- 
sually, and  not  spiritually,  they  have  established  that 
opinion  ;  otherwise  belief  in  eternal  life  would  have 
perished. — 

I  The  prudence  which  is  not  self  derived  is  the  prudence 
of  those  who  do  not  confirm  in  themselves  [the  belief] 
that  intelligence  and  wisdom  are  from  man  ;  for  they 
say.  How  can  any  man  be  wise  from  himself,  and  how 
can  any  one  do  good  from  himself?  And  when  they 
say  this,  they  see  in  themselves  that  it  is  so,  because 
they  think  interiorly ;  and  they  also  suppose  that 
others,  especially  the  learned,  think  in  the  same  way, 
because  they  do  not  know  that  any  one  can  think  exto 


292 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


riorly  ouly.  By  no  confirmations  of  appearances  are 
they  involved  in  fallacies ;  therefore  they  know  and 
perceive  that  murder,  adultery,  theft  and  false-witness 
are  sins,  and  therefore  shun  them  ;  also  that  wickedness 
is  not  wisdom,  and  that  cunning  is  not  intelligence. 
When  they  hear  ingenious  reasonings  from  fallacies, 
they  wonder  and  inwardly  smile.  This  is  because  with 
them  there  is  no  veil  between  the  interior  and  exterior, 
or  the  spiritual  and  natural  things  of  the  miud,  as  there 
is  with  the  sensual ;  therefore  they  receive  influx,  from 
heaven,  by  which  they  interiorly  see  such  things.  They 
speak  more  simply  and  sincerely  than  others,  and  place 
wisdom  in  life,  not  in  talking.  They  are  comparatively 
like  Iambs  and  sheep,  while  those  who  are  iu  self-derived 
prudence  are  like  wolves  and  foxes;  —  and  they  are  like 
those  who  stand  upon  a  mountain  and  see  those  who 
are  in  self-derived  prudence  like  persons  wandering 
in  valleys  and  woods.  From  tliis  it  is  plain  that  the 
prudence  wliich  is  not  self-derived  is  prudence  from  the 
Lord,  of  a  similar  appearance  in  externals  to  selt- 
derived  prudence,  but  wholly  dissimilar  in  internals. 
—  Who  cannot  understand  that  a  man  is  such  as  he 
is  interiorly  ;  consequently,  that  he  is  a  man  who  is  in- 
teriorly what  he  wishes  to  seem  to  be  exteriorly ;  and 
that  he  is  an  imitation  who  is  a  man  exteriorly  only, 
and  not  interiorly?  Think  as  you  talk  in  favor  of 
God,  religion,  justice  and  sincerity,  and  you  will  be  a 
man;  and  then  the  Divine  Providence  will  be  your 
prudence,  and  you  will  see  with  others  that  self  derived 
prudeuce  is  insanity. 


SPIRITUAL  TRUTH  AND  GOOD.  293 


II. —  Man  by  self-denved  prudence  persuades  himself 
and,  confirms  in  himself  that  everything  good  and  true  is 
from  and  in  himself,  and  in  like  manner  everything  evil 
and  false.  Let  the  discussion  of  this  subject  proceed  by 
au  analogy  between  natural  good  and  truth  and  spir- 
itual good  and  truth.  It  is  asked,  What  are  the  true 
and  good  in  the  sight  of  the  eye?  Is  not  that  the  true 
there  which  is  called  beautiful,  and  the  good  which  is 
called  delightful  ?  for  there  is  a  delight  experienced  in 
looking  at  what  is  beautiful.  What  are  the  true  and 
good  in  hearing  ?  Is  not  that  the  true  there  which  is 
called  harmonious,  and  the  good  which  is  called  charm- 
ing '?  for  there  is  a  charm  experienced  in  hearing  har- 
monious sounds.  So  also  of  the  other  senses.  From 
this  it  is  obvious  what  natural  truth  and  good  are. 

Let  us  now  consider  what  spiritual  truth  and  good 
are.  Is  spiritual  truth  anything  but  the  beauty  and 
harmony  of  spiritual  things,  and  spiritual  good  any- 
tliing  but  the  delight  and  charm  arising  from  the  per- 
ception of  their  beauty  and  harmony? — Of  the  natural 
it  is  affirmed  that  beauty  and  delight  flow  from  objects 
into  the  eye,  and  that  harmony  and  charm  flow  from 
musical  instruments  into  the  ear.  What  is  there  dif- 
ferent in  the  organic  substances  of  the  mind  ?  Of  the 
latter  it  is  said  that  these  things  reside  in  them,  and  of 
the  former  that  they  flow  into  them.  But  if  it  is  asked 
wh)'^  they  are  said  to  flow  in,  the  only  possible  reply  is. 
Because  there  appears  to  be  distance  [between  the  ob- 
jects and  the  eye  or  ear]  and  why  they  are  said  to 
25* 


294 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIliRARY. 


reside  in  the  niiud,  the  only  possible  reply  is,  Because 
uo  such  distance  appears ;  consequently,  that  it  is  the 
appearance  of  distance  which  causes  a  belief  respecting 
what  man  thinks  and  perceives,  different  from  that 
respecting  what  he  sees  or  hears.  But  this  falls  to  the 
ground  when  it  is  known  that  the  spiritual  is  not  in  dis- 
tance as  the  natural  is.  Think  of  the  sun  and  moon,  or 
of  Rome  and  Constantinople :  are  they  not  in  thouglit 
without  distance,  pi'ovided  the  thought  is  not  connected 
witli  experience  acquired  through  sight  or  hearing. 
Why  therefore  persuade  yourself,  that,  because  distance 
is  not  apparent  in  thought,  therefore  good  and  truth,  as 
also  evil  and  falsity,  reside  there,  and  do  not  inflow?  — 
In  the  spiritual  world  one  spirit  can  infuse  his  thoughts 
and  affections  into  another,  and  the  latter  not  know  but 
that  it  is  from  his  own  thought  and  affection :  this  is 
tliei-e  called  thinking  from  another,  and  thinking  in 
another.  —  Wicked  spirits  have  very  often  infused  into 
my  thoughts  evils  and  falsities,  which  with  me  appeared 
to  be  in  me  and  from  me,  or  as  if  I  myself  thought 
them  ;  but  as  I  knew  that  they  were  evils  and  falsities, 
I  inquired  who  infused  them,  and  they  were  discovered 
and  driven  away ;  and  they  had  been  at  a  very  great 
distance  from  me.  From  which  it  may  be  evident  that 
every  evil  together  with  its  falsity  inflows  from  hell,  and 
every  good  with  its  truth  from  the  Lord  ;  and  that  both 
seem  to  reside  in  man. — 

Selfderivcd  prudence  persuades  man  and  confirms 
him  [in  the  belief]  that  everything  good  and  true  is 


THE  MASTER'S  GOODS. 


295 


from  liiin  and  in  liini,  because  self-derived  prudence 
is  man's  intellectual  selfhood  influent  from  self-love 
which  is  his  voluntary  self  hood  ;  and  the  selfhood  can- 
not do  otherwise  than  make  all  things  its  own  ;  for  [the 
man  so  infatuated]  cannot  be  elevated  above  it.  All 
who  are  led  by  the  Lord's  Divine  Providence  are  ele- 
vated above  the  selfhood,  and  then  they  see  that  every- 
thing good  and  true  is  from  the  Lord ;  nay,  more,  they 
see  that  what  is  in  man  from  the  Lord  is  always  the 
Lord^s,  and  never  man's.  He  who  believes  otherwise  is 
like  a  man  who  has  his  master's  goods  under  his  care, 
and  lays  claim  to  them  or  appropriates  them  as  his  own. 
He  is  not  a  steward,  but  a  thief;  and  because  the  self- 
hood is  nothing  but  evil,  he  also  immerses  his  master's 
goods  in  his  evil,  whereby  they  are  destroyed  like  pearls 
thrown  into  excrement  or  acid. 

III.  —  Everything  of  which  man  is  persuaded,  and  in 
which  he  is  confirmed,  remains  in  him  as  his  oivn. —  In  t he- 
civil  and  economical  affairs  of  a  kingdom  or  republic, 
what  is  useful  and  good  cannot  be  seen  except  from  a 
knowledge  of  its  various  statutes  and  ordinances;  nor 
in  judicial  matters,  except  from  a  knowledge  of  law ; 
nor  in  natural  afiiiirs,  as  in  physics,  chemistry,  anatomy, 
mechanics,  and  so  on,  unless  a  man  is  experienced  iu  the 
sciences.  But  in  matters  purely  rational,  moral  and 
spiritual,  truths  appear  by  their  own  inherent  light, 
provided  man,  by  a  proper  education,  has  been  rendered 
somewhat  rational,  moral  and  spiritual.  This  is  be- 
cause every  man  as  to  his  spirit,  is  in  the  spiritual 


296 


THE  SWEDENBORO  LIBRARY. 


world,  and  is  one  among  its  inhabitants ;  is  therefore  in 
spiritual  light,  which  enlightens  the  interiors  of  his  un- 
derstanding, and,  as  it  were,  dictates.  For  spiritual 
light  in  its  essence  is  the  Divine  Truth  of  the  Lord's 
Divine  Wisdom ;  therefore  it  is  that  man  can  think 
analytically,  can  determine  what  is  just  and  right  in 
judicial  affairs,  can  see  what  is  honest  in  moral  and 
good  in  spiritual  life,  and  also  many  truths  which  do 
not  become  obscure  except  by  confirmed  falsities.  Man 
sees  these,  comparatively,  almost  as  he  sees  the  disposi- 
tion of  another  in  his  face,  and  has  a  perception  of  his 
affections  from  the  tones  of  his  voice,  without  any  other 
knowledge  than  what  is  inherent  in  every  man.  Wliy 
should  not  man  see  to  some  extent  from  influx,  his  life's 
interiors  which  are  spiritual  and  moral,  when  there  is 
no  animal  that  does  not  from  influx  know  its  own  neces- 
sities which  are  natural  ?  A  bird  has  the  knowledge  to 
build  its  nest,  lay  its  eggs,  hatch  its  young  and  choose 
its  food  ;  besides  other  surprising  things  in  them,  which 
are  called  instincts. 

But  how  man's  state  is  changed  by  confirmations  and 
their  persuasions  shall  now  be  explained  :  — 

1st.  There  is  nothing  that  cannot  be  confirmed;  andivhat 
is  false  more  thoroughly  than  what  is  true.  What  cannot 
be  confirmed,  wheu  it  is  confirmed  by  atheists  that  God 
is  not  the  Creator  of  the  universe,  but  that  nature  cre- 
ated herself;  that  religion  is  only  a  restraint,  for  the 
simple  and  vulgar;  that  man  is  like  a  beast,  and  dies 
like  one  ;  that  adultery  is  allowable,  as  also  theft,  fraud 


CONFIRMATION  OF  FALSITY. 


297 


and  deceitful  raachiuations ;  tliat  cunning  is  intelli- 
geuce,  and  wickedness  wisdom?  Who  does  not  confirm 
his  own  heresy?  Are  there  not  volumes  filled  with 
confirmations  of  the  two  predominant  heresies  of  Chris- 
tendom? Concoct  ten  heresies  however  abstruse,  ask 
an  ingenious  man  to  confirm  them,  and  he  will  confirm 
them  all.  If  at  last  you  see  them  merely  from  tliose 
confirmations,  will  you  not  see  falsities  as  truths?  In- 
asmuch as  all  falsity  shines  in  the  natural  man  from 
its  appearances  and  fallacies,  and  truth  in  the  spiritual 
man  only,  it  is  plain  that  falsity  may  be  more  thor- 
oughly confirmed  than  truth.  In  order  to  show  that 
everything  false  and  evil  may  be  confirmed  until  the 
false  seems  to  be  true,  and  the  evil  good,  let  it  be  proved, 
for  example  —  that  a  raven  is  white.  May  it  not  be 
said  that  its  blackness  is  only  a  shade,  which  is  not  the 
real  bird?  Its  feathers  are  inwardly  white;  so  is  its 
body  ;  and  these  are  the  substances  of  which  the  bird 
is  formed.  Because  its  blackness  is  only  a  shade,  the 
raven  becomes  white  when  it  gets  old  ;  such  have  been 
seen.  What  is  black  essentially  but  white?  Grind 
black  glass,  and  you  will  see  that  the  powder  is  white. 
Therefore  when  you  say  the  raven  is  black,  you  speak 
from  the  shadow  and  not  from  the  reality.  But  it  may 
be  replied:  What  does  all  that  amount  to?  All  birds 
might  thus  be  called  white.  This,  although  contrary 
to  sound  reason,  is  adduced  to  show  that  falsity  directly 
opposed  to  truth,  and  evil  directly  opposed  to  good,  may 
be  confirmed. 


298 


THE  SWEDENBORO  LTBRART. 


2d.  When  falsUij  is  confirmed,  truth  is  not  visible ;  but 
from  confirmed  truth  fabity  is  visible.  Everything  false 
is  iu  darkness,  and  everything  true  is  in  light ;  and  in 
darkness  nothing  is  visible,  no,  nor  is  anything  known 
except  by  feeling.  In  light  it  is  otherwise.  Therefore, 
also,  in  the  Word  falsity  is  called  darkness,  and  they  who 
are  in  falsity  are  therefore  said  to  walk  in  darkness  and 
in  the  shadow  of  death.  And  on  the  other  hand  truth 
is  there  called  light,  and  they  who  are  in  truth  are 
therefore  said  to  walk  in  the  light,  and  are  called  the 
children  of  light.  That  when  falsity  is  confirmed  truth 
is  invisible,  while  from  confirmed  truth  falsity  is  visi- 
ble, is  obvious  from  many  things.  For  example,  who 
•would  see  any  spiritual  truth  unless  the  Word  taught 
it  ?  Would  there  not  be  mere  darkness  that  could  not 
be  dispelled  except  by  the  light  in  which  the  Word  is, 
and  except  in  him  who  wishes  to  be  enlightened  ?  What 
heretic  can  see  his  falsities  unless  he  admits  the  genu- 
ine truth  of  the  church  ?  He  does  not  see  it  before.  I 
have  spoken  with  those  who  have  confirmed  themselves 
in  faith  separate  from  charity,  and  have  asked  them  if 
they  saw  how  much  was  said  in  the  Word  about  love 
or  charity,  works  or  deeds,  and  keeping  the  command- 
ments ?  and  that  he  was  called  happy  and  wise  who  did 
them,  and  a  fool  who  did  them  not?  They  said,  that 
when  they  read  those  things,  they  did  not  see  but  that 
they  were  faith,  and  so  passed  them  by,  as  it  were,  w  ith 
closed  eyes. —  Who  can  have  a  sense  of  the  spiritual 
uncleanuess  of  adultery  but  he  who  is  in  the  spiritual 


INGENUITY  OF  THE  WICK-ED 


299 


purity  of  chastity?  Who  can  have  a  sense  of  the 
cruelty  of  revenge  but  he  who  is  in  good  from  the 
love  of  the  neighbor?  Who  that  is  an  adulterer,  or 
that  is  desirous  of  revenge,  does  not  sneer  at  those  who 
call  the  delights  of  those  things  infernal,  and  on  the 
other  hand  call  the  delights  of  conjugial  and  neigh- 
borly love  heavenly  ?  and  so  on. 

3d.  Hie  abilHi/  to  confirm  whatever  a  man  pleases  is 
not  intelligence,  hut  only  ingemdty,  which  may  exist  even 
in  the  worst  of  men.  There  are  some  exceedingly  skill- 
ful in  confirming  anything,  who  do  not  know  any  truth, 
and  yet  can  confirm  either  falsity  or  truth.  And  some 
of  them  say:  What  is  truth?  Is  there  such  a  thing? 
Is  not  that  true  which  I  make  true?  And  yet  these 
men  are  in  the  world  believed  to  be  intelligent,  althougii 
they  are  but  plasterers.  None  are  intelligent  but  those 
who  perceive  that  truth  is  truth,  and  by  the  perception 
of  one  truth  after  another  confirm  it.  These  two  classes 
can  hardly  be  distinguished,  because  it  is  impossible  to 
distinguish  between  the  light  of  confirmation  and  that 
of  the  perception  of  truth.  Nor  does  it  appear  but 
that  those  who  are  in  the  light  of  confirmation  are 
also  in  the  light  of  the  perception  of  truth ;  when 
nevertheless  there  is  a  difference  between  them  like 
that  between  deceptive  light  and  genuine  light ;  and 
deceptive  light  in  the  spiritual  world  is  such  that  it  is 
turned  into  darkness  when  genuine  light  inflows.  Such 
a  deceptive  light  prevails  with  many  in  hell,  who,  when 
sent  forth  into  genuine  light,  see  nothing  at  all.  From 


300 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRART. 


all  of  whicli  it  is  clear  that  the  ability  to  confirm  what- 
ever a  raau  pleases  is  merely  iugcnuity,  and  is  possible 
even  with  the  worst  of  men. 

4th.  There  is  an  intellectual  confirmation  which  is  not 
also  voluntary,  but  all  voluntary  confirmation  is  also  intel- 
lectual. This  may  be  illustrated  by  examples;  they 
wlio  confirm  in  themselves  faith  separate  from  charity, 
and  still  live  a  life  of  charity  ;  and  in  general  they 
who  confirm  what  is  false  in  doctrine,  and  yet  do  not 
live  according  to  it ;  are  such  as  are  in  intellectual  con- 
firmation, but  not  in  voluntary  confirmation  also.  But 
they  who  confirm  what  is  false  in  doctrine,  and  live  ac- 
cording to  it,  are  such  as  are  in  both  voluntary  and 
intellectual  confirmation.  This  is  because  the  under- 
standing does  not  flow  into  the  will,  but  the  will  into 
the  understanding.  From  this  it  is  also  plain  what  the 
falsity  of  evil  is,  and  wliat  the  falsity  that  is  not  of 
evil,  and  that  the  latter  may  be  united  to  good,  but  not 
the  former.  This  is  because  the  falsity  that  is  not  of 
evil  is  falsity  in  tlie  understanding  and  not  in  the  will; 
but  the  falsity  of  evil  is  falsity  in  the  understanding 
arising  from  evil  in  the  will. 

5th.  The  confirmation  of  evil,  that  is  both  voluntary  and 
intellectual,  causes  man  to  believe  that  self-derived  pru- 
dence is  everything,  and  the  Divine  Providence  not.hi)ig ; 
but  not  intellectual  confirmation  only.  There  are  many 
wlio  confirm  in  themselves  self-derived  prudence  from 
appearances  in  the  world,  yet  do  not  deny  the  Divine 
Providence.    With  such  there  exists  only  intellectual 


TIirXGS  CONFIRMED  REMAIN. 


301 


confirmation  ;  but  with  tliose  who  also  deny  the  Divine 
Providence,  there  exists  also  voluntary  confirmation. 

6th.  Everything  confirmed  by  both  ivill  and  understand- 
ing remains  forever ;  but  not  that  which  is  confirmed  by 
the  understanding  only.  For  that  which  belongs  to  the 
underMauding  only.is  not  within  man,  but  without  hitn. 
It  is  only  in  his  thought.  And  nothing  enters  man, 
and  is  appropriated  to  him,  but  what  is  accepted  by  the 
will ;  for  this  becomes  a  part  of  his  life's  love,  and  re- 
mains to  eternity. 

Everything  confirmed  by  both  will  and  understand- 
ing remains  forever;  because  everyone  is  his  own  love, 
and  his  love  belongs  to  his  will  ;  also  because  every 
man  is  his  own  good  or  his  own  evil,  for  all  that  is 
called  good  which  belongs  to  the  love,  and  in  like 
manner  evil.  Since  man  is  his  own  love,  he  is  also  the 
form  of  his  own  love,  and  may  be  called  the  organ  of 
his  life's  love.  Love's  aflfections  and  their  thoughts  iu 
man  are  changes  and  variations  of  stale  and  form  in 
the  organic  substances  of  his  mind.  Some  idea  of  these 
may  be  obtained  from  the  heart  and  lungs,  as  being  al- 
ternate expansions  and  contractions,  which  in  the  heart 
are  called  systole  and  diastole,  and  in  the  lungs  respira- 
tion, which  is  a  process  of  alternately  enlarging  and  di- 
minishing their  lobes.  Such  are  the  changes  and  varia- 
tions of  state  in  the  heart  and  lungs.  Similar  changes 
take  place  in  the  other  bodily  viscera,  and  correlative  ones 
also  in  their  parts,  which  receive  and  carry  the  blood 
and  animal  juices.  Similar  changes  also  take  place  iu 
2(j 


302 


THE  SWEDENBORO  LIBRARY. 


the  organic  forms  of  tlie  mind,  which  are  the  subjects 
of  man's  affections  and  thoughts,  with  the  difference, 
that  their  expansions  and  compressions,  are  compara- 
tively of  so  much  higher  perfection  as  to  be  indescriba- 
ble in  words  of  natural  language,  but  only  in  those  of 
spiritual  language,  which  again  can  only  express  them 
as  being  vortical  motions  involved  and  evolved  in  tlie 
manner  of  perjietual  and  curved  spirals,  wonderfully 
combined  into  forms  receptive  of  life.  In  the  good 
their  spiral  motion  is  forward,  but  in  the  wicked  back- 
ward ;  and  the  forms  which  have  a  spiral  motion  for- 
ward, are  turned  toward  the  Lord  and  receive  influx 
from  Him  ;  while  those  which  have  a  spiral  motion 
backward  are  turned  toward  hell,  and  from  it  receive 
influx. — 

Every  one  after  death  goes  the  way  of  his  own  love, 
—  he  who  is  in  a  good  love,  to  heaven,  and  he  who  is  in 
a  wicked  love,  to  hell.  Nor  does  he  rest  until  he  is  in 
that  society  wliere  his  ruling  love  is.  And  what  is 
wonderful,  every  one  knows  the  way.  It  is  as  if  he 
smelt  it. 

IV. —  If  man  umikl  believe  (as  the  truth  is)  that  every- 
thing good  and  true  is  from  the  Lord,  and  everything  evil 
and  false  from  hell,  he  would  not  appropriate  good  to  him- 
self, and  viake  it  meritorious,  nor  appropriate  evil  to  him- 
self, and  make  himself  guilty  of  it.  But  as  this  is  con- 
trary to  the  belief  of  those  who  have  confirmed  in 
themselves  the  appearance  that  wisdom  and  prudence 
are  from  man,  and  arc  not  influent  according  to  tlic 


AS  OF  OURSELVES. 


303 


8tate  of  his  mental  organization,  therefore  it  is  to  be 
demonstrated. — 

1st.  He  who  confirms  in  himself  the  appearance  that 
wisdom  and  prudence  are  from  man,  and  therefore  in  him 
as  his  otm,  cannot  see  but  that  otherwise  he  would  not  be 
man,  but  a  beast  or  statue ;  when  yet  the  contrary  is  the 
truth.  It  is  from  a  law  of  the  Divine  Providence  that 
man  should  think  as  of  himself,  and  should  also  act 
prudently  as  of  himself,  but  still  should  acknowledge 
that  he  does  so  from  the  Lord.  He  who  does  this,  is  a 
man;  but  he  who  confirms  in  himself  that  everything 
he  thinks  and  does  is  from  himself,  is  not  a  man  ;  nor 
yet  he  who,  because  he  knows  that  wisdom  and  pru- 
dence are  from  God,  still  waits  for  influx ;  for  the  latter 
becomes  like  a  statue,  and  the  former  like  a  beast.  That 
he  who  waits  for  influx  becomes  like  a  statue  is  evident; 
for  he  must  sit  or  stand  motionless,  with  hanging  hands 
.and  eyes  either  opened  or  closed  without  winking, 
neither  thinking  nor  breathing.  What  life,  then,  is 
there  in  him  ?  That  he  who  believes  that  all  his 
thoughts  and  actions  are  from  himself  is  not  unlike 
a  beast  is  also  evident ;  for  he  thinks  only  from  the 
natural  mind,  which  is  common  to  both  men  and  beast, 
and  not  from  the  rational-spiritual  which  is  the  truly 
human  mind.  For  this  latter  mind  acknowledges  that 
God  alone  thinks  from  Himself,  and  man  from  God. 
Therefore  also  he  [who  believes  that  he  thinks  and  acts 
from  himself]  knows  no  difference  between  a  man  and 
a  beast,  except  that  a  man  talks  and  a  beast  makes 


304 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


sounds ;  and  he  believes  that  both  die  in  the  same 
manner. —  They  who  by  influx  are  instructed  what  to 
believe  or  do,  are  not  instructed  by  the  Lord,  nor  by 
any  angel,  but  by  some  enthusiastic  Quaker  or  Mora- 
vian spirit,  and  are  seduced.  All  influx  from  the  Lord 
takes  place  through  an  enlightenment  of  the  under- 
standing, by  an  aflfection  for  truth,  and  through  the 
latter  into  the  former. 

2d.  To  believe  and  think  (as  the  truth  its)  that  everytliing 
good  and  true  is  from  the  Lord,  and  everything  evil  and 
false  from  hell,  seems  to  be  impossible ;  when  yet  it  is  the 
truly  hmanand  therefore  the  angelic  state. — Man  thinks 
as  of  himself,  even  if  from  hell,  because  the  Lord  gives 
to  every  one  the  appearance  that  his  thought  is  his  own, 
from  whatever  source  it  may  be ;  otherwise  he  would 
not  live  as  a  man,  nor  could  he  be  led  out  of  hell  and 
introduced  into  heaven.  Therefore  also  the  Lord  gives 
to  man  [the  power]  to  know,  and  hence  to  think,  that, 
he  is  in  hell  if  in  evil,  and  that  he  thinks  from  hell  if 
from  evil.  He  also  gives  him  tlie  power  to  study  the 
means  whereby  he  may  escape  from  hell,  and  not  think 
from  it,  but  may  enter  heaven,  and  there  think  from  the 
Lord  ;  and  He  also  gives  him  freedom  of  choice.  From 
which  it  may  be  seen  that  man  may  think  wickedly  and 
falsely  as  of  himself,  and  may  also  think  that  this  or 
that  is  wicked  and  false ;  consequently  that  it  is  only  an 
appearance  that  he  does  so  of  himself;  without  which 
appearance  he  would  not  be  man.  Tlie  truly  human 
and  therefore  angelic  state,  is  to  think  from  truth  ;  and 


TWO  GREAT  ACKyOWLEDGMESTS.  305 


this  is  the  truth,  that  man  does  not  think  from  liimsolf, 
but  it  is  given  him  by  tlie  Lord  to  think  to  all  appear- 
ance as  if  from  himself. 

3d.  So  to  believe  and  think  is  imposnble  with  those  ivho 
do  not  acknowledge  the  Lord's  Divinity,  and  u'ho  do  not 
acknowledge  that  evils  are  sins;  bid  is  possible  with  those 
who  do  make  these  two  acknowledgments.  It  is  impossible 
to  those  who  do  not  acknowledge  the  Lord's  Divinity, 
because  the  Lord  alone  gives  man  thought  and  volition ; 
and  they  who  do  not  acknowledge  his  Divinity  sepa- 
rated from  Him,  believe  that  they  tln'nk  from  them- 
selves. It  is  also  impossible  to  those  who  do  not  ac- 
knowledge evils  as  sins,  because  they  think  from  hell ; 
and  every  oue  there  imagines  that  he  thinks  from  him- 
self. 

4th.  They  who  are  in  these  tivo  acknowledgments,  only 
reflect  upon  the  evils  within  them,  and  throtv  them  back 
from  themselves  to  hell  from  ivhence  they  are,  so  far  as 
they  shun  them  and  are  averse  to  them  as  sins. — If  a  man 
reflects  upon  the  evils  in  himself  (which  is  the  same  as 
to  examine  himself),  and  shuns  them,  then  he  frees 
himself  from  hell,  and  introduces  himself  into  heaven, 
and  there  looks  at  the  Lord  face  to  face.  Man  is  said 
to  do  this ;  but  he  does  it  as  of  himself,  and  theu  [he 
does  it]  from  the  Lord.  When  from  a  good  heart  and 
in  pious  faith  he  acknowledges  this  truth,  it  is  inwardly 
concealed  in  all  that  he  afterwards  thinks  and  does  as 
of  himself;  just  like  the  prolific  principle  in  a  seed, 
which  inwardly  accompanies  its  growth  even  to  new 
26*  U 


306 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIliRARY. 


seed  ;  and  like  pleasure  in  the  appetite  for  food  that  he 
lias  once  acknowledged  to  be  wholesome  for  him.  In  a 
word,  it  is  like  the  heart  and  soul  in  all  that  he  thinks 
and  does. 

5t!i.  27)?{.s  ilie  Divine  Providence  appropriates  neither 
evil  nor  good  to  any  one,  but  self-derived  prudence  appj-o- 
priates  both.  This  follows  from  all  that  has  now  been 
stated.  The  end  of  the  Divine  Providence  is  good ; 
this  it  therefore  purposes  in  all  its  operations.  "Where- 
fore, it  does  not  appropriate  good  to  any  one;  for  this 
would  then  become  meritorious ;  nor  does  it  appro- 
Innate  evil  to  any  one;  for  so  it  would  make  him  guilty 
of  it.  Yet  man  does  both  from  his  selfhood,  because 
this  is  nothing  but  evil;  the  selfhood  of  his  will  is  self- 
love,  and  the  selfhood  of  his  understanding  is  the  pride 
of  his  own  intelligence ;  and  from  this  comes  self-de- 
rived prudence.    (D.  P.,  n.  308-321.) 


XVII. 

EVERY  MAN  MAY  BE  REFORMED,  AND  THERE  IS 
NO  PREDESTINATION  TO  ILELL. 

OUXD  reason  dictates  that  all  are  predestined 
r  heaven,  and  none  to  hell ;  for  all  are  born 

men,  and  therefore  the  image  of  God  is  in 
■  '  them.  The  image  of  God  in  thera  is  their 
ability  to  understand  truth  and  do  good.  This  ability 
is  the  image  of  God,  which  remains  in  every  sound 
man,  and  is  never  eradicated.  Therefore  he  may  be- 
come a  civil  and  moral  man  ;  and  he  who  is  civil  and 
moral  may  also  become  spiritual,  for  the  civil  and 
moral  is  the  receptacle  of  the  spiritual.  He  is  called  a 
civil  man  who  knows  the  laws  of  the  kingdom  wherein 
he  is  a  citizen,  and  lives  according  to  them ;  and  he  is 
called  a  moral  man  who  makes  those  laws  his  morals 
and  his  virtues,  and  from  reason  lives  them.  Live 
those  laws,  not  only  as  civil  and  moral,  but  also  as 
Divine  laws,  and  you  will  be  a  spiritual  man. 

There  hardly  exists  a  people  so  barbarous  as  not  to 
have  ordained  by  laws  that  murder,  adultery,  theft, 
false-witness  and  violence  to  what  belongs  to  another 
must  not  be  committed.  These  laws  a  civil  and  moral 
man  observes,  in  order  that  he  may  either  be,  or  seem 

307 


308  THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


to  be,  a  good  citizen.  But  if  he  does  not  also  regard 
them  as  Divine  laws  he  is  only  a  civil  and  moral  natural 
man  ;  while  if  he  does  also  regard  them  as  Divine,  lie 
becomes  a  civil  and  moral  spiritual  man.  The  differ- 
ence is,  that  the  latter  is  not  only  a  good  citizen  of  an 
earthly  kingdom,  but  also  of  the  heavenly  kingdom  ; 
while  the  former  is  a  good  citizen  of  the  earthly  king- 
dom, but  not  of  the  heavenly.  The  good  they  do  dis- 
tinguishes them.  The  good  which  civil  and  moral  nat- 
ural men  do  is  not  good  in  itself ;  for  the  man  and  the 
world  is  in  it.  But  the  good  which  civil  and  moral 
spiritual  men  do  is  good  in  itself,  because  the  Lord  and 
heaven  is  in  it.  From  this  it  may  be  obvious  that  every 
man,  because  he  is  born  to  become  a  civil  and  moral 
natural  man,  is  also  born  to  become  a  civil  and  moral 
spiritual  man.  It  is  only  necessary  that  he  should  ac- 
knowledge God,  and  not  do  evil  because  it  is  contrary 
to  God,  but  should  do  good  because  it  is  accordant  with 
God.  His  civil  and  moral  actions  thereby  acquire  spirit 
and  life;  while  otherwise  there  is  no  spirit  and  therefore 
no  life  in  them.  Wherefore  the  natural  man,  however 
civilly  and  morally  he  may  act,  is  called  dead ;  but  the 
spiritual  man,  alive. 

It  is  of  the  Lord's  Divine  Providence  that  every 
nation  should  have  a  religion ;  and  the  first  principle 
of  all  religion  is  to  acknowledge  that  there  is  a  God ; 
for  otherwise  it  is  not  called  a  religion.  And  every 
nation  that  lives  according  to  its  religion  —  that  is,  does 
not  do  evil  because  it  is  contrary  to  its  God  —  receives 


GOD'S  END  IN  CREATION. 


309 


some  spirituality  in  its  natural  [life].  Who,  when  he 
hears  some  Gentile  saying  that  he  does  not  wish  to  do 
this  or  that  evil,  because  it  is  contrary  to  his  God,  does 
not  say  to  himself.  Is  not  this  man  saved  ?  It  seems  as 
if  it  could  not  be  otherwise.  Sound  reason  dictates  this 
to  him.  And  on  the  other  hand,  who,  when  he  hears  a 
Christian  saying  that  he  makes  no  account  of  this  or 
that  evil,  and  asking  what  is  meant  by  saying  that  it  is 
contrary  to  God,  does  not  say  to  himself.  Is  this  man 
saved  ?  It  seems  impossible.  This  also  sound  reason 
dictates.  If  he  says,  I  was  born  a  Christian :  I  have 
been  baptized ;  I  have  learned  about  the  Lord  ;  I  have 
read  the  Word  ;  I  have  partaken  of  the  Holy  Supper  ; 
is  all  this  anything,  when  the  murder  or  revenge  which 
he  breathes  —  the  adultery,  theft,  false-witness,  or  lying, 
and  various  kinds  of  violence  —  he  does  not  regard  as 
sins  ?  Does  such  a  man  think  of  God,  or  of  any  eter- 
nal life?  Does  he  think  that  there  is  a  God,  or  that 
life  is  eternal  ?  Does  not  sound  reason  dictate  that  such 
a  man  cannot  be  saved?  This  is  said  of  a  Christian, 
because  a  Gentile  from  religion  thinks  more  of  God  in 
his  life  than  a  Christian  does.  But  on  these  points  more 
shall  be  said  in  what  follows. — 

I. —  Tlie  end  of  creation  is  a  heaven  from  the  human 
race.  Heaven  consists  of  none  but  those  who  have  been 
born  men.  And  because  it  consists  of  no  others,  it 
follows  that  the  end  of  creation  is  a  heaven  from  the 
human  race.  This  will  be  seen  more  clearly  from  the 
following  explanations :  — 


310 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


1st.  Every  man  is  created  to  live  forever.  In  tlie 
treatise  on  the  Divine  Love  and  Wisdom,  it  is  shown 
that  there  are  three  degrees  of  life,  called  the  natural, 
spiritual  and  celestial  degrees;  and  that  these  three 
degrees  are  actually  within  every  man ;  but  that  in 
beasts  there  is  but  one  degree  of  life,  which  is  similar 
to  the  ultimate  degree  in  man,  called  the  natural.  From 
which  it  follows  that  man  by  the  elevation  of  his  life 
to  the  Lord  is,  in  that  state,  above  the  beasts,  so  that 
he  can  understand  what  pertains  to  the  Divine  Wisdom, 
and  can  desire  what  pertains  to  the  Divine  Love,  that 
is,  can  receive  the  Divine.  And  he  who  can  receive 
the  Divine,  so  as  to  see  and  perceive  it  in  himself,  can- 
not but  be  united  to  the  Lord,  and  by  that  union  live 
forever.  With  the  creation  of  the  whole  universe  what 
would  the  Lord  be  if  He  had  not  also  created  images 
and  likenesses  of  Himself,  to  whom  He  can  communi- 
cate his  Divinity  ?  Otherwise,  what  would  [creation] 
be  but  causing  something  to  be  and  not  to  be,  or  to 
exist  and  not  to  exist,  and  this  for  no  other  purpose 
than  that  He  might  be  able  from  afar  to  contemplate 
mere  vicissitudes  and  continual  variations,  as  upon  some 
theatre?  What  would  there  be  Divine  in  these  [things 
created],  unless  they  existed  in  order  to  be  serviceable 
to  subjects  which  should  receive  the  Divine  still  more 
nearly,  and  should  see  and  feel  it  ?  And  as  the  Divine 
is  of  glory  inexhaustible,  should  it  keep  it  to  itself 
alone,  or  could  it  do  so?  For  love  desires  to  commu- 
nicate its  own  to  another;  nay,  to  give  from  its  own  as 


CONVERSE  WITH  ANGELS. 


311 


much  as  it  can.  Why  not  the  Diviae  Love  which  is 
iiifiuite  ?  Can  it  give  and  take  away  again  ?  Would 
not  that  be  to  give  what  is  perishable  which  in  itself  is 
nothing,  because  when  it  perishes  it  becomes  nothing? 

In  order  that  every  man  may  live  forever,  what  is 
mortal  in  him  is  taken  away.  The  mortal  in  him  is 
his  material  body,  which  is  taken  away  by  death  ;  thus 
Avhat  is  immortal  in  him,  which  is  his  niiud,  is  brought 
to  light,  and  he  becomes  a  sjjirit  in  the  human  form. 
His  mind  is  that  spirit.  That  man's  mind  cannot  die, 
the  ancient  wise  men  saw ;  for  they  said  :  How  can  the 
soul  or  mind  die,  when  it  is  capable  of  wisdom  ?  Few 
at  this  day  know  what  their  interior  idea  of  this  sub- 
ject was  ;  but  it  was  that  which  descended  from  heaven 
into  their  common  perception,  viz. :  that  God  is  Wis- 
dom itself,  of  which  man  is  partaker ;  and  God  is  im- 
mortal or  etex-nal. 

As  it  has  been  granted  me  to  converse  with  angels,  I 
may  also  relate  something  from  my  ov/n  experience.  I 
have  conversed  with  those  who  lived  many  centuries 
ago,  with  those  who  lived  before  the  flood,  and  with 
some  who  lived  after  it,  with  those  who  lived  in  the  time 
of  the  Lord,  and  with  one  of  his  apostles,  and  with 
many  who  lived  in  the  centuries  succeeding;  and  they 
all  seemed  to  me  like  middle-aged  men,  and  said  that 
they  knew  not  what  death  was,  except  that  it  was  dam- 
nation. All  who  have  lived  well,  when  they  go  to 
heaven  enter  into  what  was  their  state  of  youlh  in  the 
world,  and  remain  in  it  forever,  even  those  who  in 


312 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


the  world  were  old  and  decrepit  men  ;  and  women,  al- 
though they  had  been  old  and  withered,  return  to  the 
flower  of  their  age  and  beauty. — 

2d.  Every  man  is  created  to  live  forever  in  a  state  of 
happiness.  This  follows  as  a  consequence ;  for  He  who 
desires  that  man  should  live  forever,  also  desires  that 
he  should  live  in  a  state  of  happiness.  What  would 
eternal  life  be  without  it?  All  love  desires  the  good 
of  others :  the  love  of  parents  desires  the  good  of  their 
children ;  the  love  of  the  betrothed  and  husband  de- 
sires the  good  of  his  betrothed  and  wife ;  the  love  of 
friendship  desires  the  good  of  friends;  why  not  the 
Divine  Love?  And  what  is  this  good  but  delight? 
And  what  is  Divine  Good  but  eternal  happiness? 
Everything  good  is  called  good  from  its  delight  or  hap- 
piness. That  which  is  given  and  possessed  is  indeed 
called  good ;  but  unless  it  is  also  delightful,  it  is  a 
barren  good,  which  in  itself  is  not  good.  From  which 
it  is  evident  that  eternal  life  is  also  eternal  happiness. 
Tliis  state  of  man  is  the  end  of  creation  ;  and  that  only 
those  who  go  to  heaven  are  in  that  state,  is  not  the 
Lord's  fault,  but  man's. 

3d.  Jims  every  man  is  created  to  go  to  heaven.  This  is 
the  end  of  creation.  But  that  all  do  not  go  to  heaven, 
is  because  they  imbibe  delights  of  hell  opposed  to  the 
happiness  of  heaven  :  and  they  who  are  not  in  the  hap- 
piness of  heaven  cannot  enter  heaven,  for  they  cannot 
endure  it.  No  one  who  goes  to  the  spiritual  world  is 
forbidden  to  ascend  to  heaven.    But  he  who  is  in  the 


ALL  CREATED  FOR  UEAVEy. 


313 


delight  of  hell,  when  he  comes  there,  is  seized  with  pal- 
pitation of  the  heart  and  labored  breathing;  his  life 
begins  to  fail ;  he  is  pained  and  tortured,  and  writhes 
like  a  serpent  put  near  a  fire.  This  is  because  opposite 
acts  against  opposite.  But  yet  as  they  were  born  men, 
and  thereby  possess  the  faculty  of  thought  and  volition, 
and  consequently  of  speech  and  action,  they  cannot  die ; 
and  as  they  cannot  live  with  any  but  those  whose  life's 
delight  is  similar  to  their  own,  to  such  they  are  sent. 
Therefore  they  who  are  in  the  delights  of  evil  are  sent 
to  their  own  ;  and  they  who  are  in  the  delights  of  good, 
to  their  own.  Nay  more  ;  it  is  granted  everyone  to  be 
in  the  delight  of  his  own  evil,  provided  he  does  not  in- 
fest those  who  are  in  the  delight  of  good ;  but  as  evil 
cannot  do  otherwise  than  infest  good  (for  there  is  in- 
herent in  evil  a  hatred  of  good),  therefore,  lest  they 
should  do  violence  to  what  is  good,  they  are  removed 
and  cast  into  their  own  places  in  hell,  where  their  de- 
light is  turned  into  its  opposite.  Yet  this  does  not  deny 
that  man  is  such  by  creation,  and  is  therefore  born  such, 
that  he  can  go  to  heaven.  For  every  one  goes  to  heaven 
W'ho  dies  in  infancy,  is  there  brought  up  and  instructed 
as  a  man  is  in  the  world,  and  through  aSection  for  good 
and  truth  is  imbued  with  wisdom,  and  becomes  an  angel. 
Man,  who  is  brought  up  and  instructed  in  the  world, 
might  have  done  the  same.  But  the  reason  why  a  similar 
process  does  not  take  place  with  many  in  the  world,  is 
that  they  love  the  first  degree  of  their  life,  which  is 
called  the  natural  degree,  and  do  not  wish  to  withdraw 


314 


THE  SWEDENDOIiG  LIBRARY. 


from  it  and  become  spiritual.  Autl  the  natural  degree 
of  life  viewed  in  it.-elf  loves  uotliiug  but  self  and  the 
world,  for  it  adiieres  to  the  bodily  senses,  which  also 
open  to  the  world  ;  while  the  spiritual  degree  of  life 
viewed  in  itself  loves  the  Lord  and  heaven,  and  also 
self  and  the  world  ;  but  God  and  heaven  as  higher, 
principal  and  predominant,  and  self  and  the  world 
as  lower,  instrumental  and  subservient. 

4th.  The  Divine  Love  cannot  hut  desire  this,  and  the 
Divine  Wisdom  cannot  but  provide  for  it. —  The  Lord 
has  implanted  in  every  man  the  faculties  of  willing 
good  and  understanding  truth.  Now  as  these  two 
faculties  of  man  are  implanted  in  him  by  the  Lord  from 
his  birth,  and  as,  therefore,  the  Lord  is  present  with  man 
in  them  as  in  what  belongs  to  Himself,  it  is  evident  that 
his  Divine  Love  cannot  but  desire  that  man  should  go 
to  heaven,  and  there  enjoy  eternal  -blessedness;  and 
also  that  his  Divine  Wisdom  cannot  but  provide  for 
it.  But  as  it  is  from  his  Divine  Love  that  man  should 
feel  heavenly  happiness  in  himself  as  his  own;  and  as 
this  is  impossible  unless  man  is  kept  in  the  full  appear- 
ance tliat  his  thought,  volition,  speech  and  action  are 
from  himself ;  therefore  He  cannot  lead  man  in  any 
other  way  than  according  to  the  laws  of  his  Divine 
Providence. 

11. —  It  is  therefore  of  the  Divine  Providence  that  every 
man  can  be  saved;  and  that  they  are  saved  who  aclcnoivl- 
edge  God  and  lice  well. —  Some  are  of  the  opinion  that 
the  Lord's  church  is  only  in  the  Christian  world ;  be- 


UNION  OF  GOD  WITH  MAN. 


315 


cause  the  Lord  is  known  there  only,  and  there  alone  is 
the  Word.  But  still  there  are  many  who  believe  that 
God's  church  is  a  common  body,  or  extends  and  is 
spread  throughout  the  whole  world,  therefore  among 
those  also  who  are  ignorant  of  the  Lord  and  have  not 
the  Word.  They  say  that  this  is  not  the  fault  of  those 
who  are  ignorant,  and  that  they  cannot  of  themselves 
overcome  their  ignorance ;  aud  that  it  is  contrary  to 
the  love  aud  mercy  of  God  that  some  should  be  born 
for  hell,  when  yet  they  are  men  equally  with  others. 
Kow  as  it  is  the  belief  of  Christians  —  of  many,  if  not 
of  all  —  that  the  church  is  a  common  body,  which  is 
also  called  a  Communion,  it  follows  that  there  are  cer- 
tain most  general  principles  of  the  church  which  enter 
into  all  religions  and  constitute  that  Communion.  That 
these  most  general  principles  are  the  acknowledgment 
of  God  and  good  of  life,  will  be  seen  in  the  following 
order :  — 

1st.  The  acknowledgment  of  God  causes  a  union  of 
God  with  man  and  of  man  with  God ;  and  the  denial  of 
Him  caxtses  their  separation.  Some  may  suppose  that 
they  who  do  not  acknowledge  God  can  be  saved  just  as 
well  as  those  who  do,  provided  they  lead  a  moral  life. 
They  say.  What  does  acknowledgment  accomplish  ?  Is 
it  not  mere  thought?  Can  I  not  easily  acknowledge 
God  [hereafter]  when  I  know  for  certain  that  He  ex- 
ists? I  have  heard  of  Him,  but  I  have  not  seen  Hira. 
Make  me  see  Him  aud  I  will  believe.  Such  talk  pre- 
vails with  many  who  deny  God  when  they  are  allowed 
to  reason  freely  with  one  who  acknowledges. 


316 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LTBnAJiY. 


But  that  the  acknowledgment  of  God  unites,  and  the 
denial  of  Him  separates,  shall  be  illustrated  by  some 
things  made  known  to  me  in  the  spiritual  world.  When 
any  one  there  thinks  of  another,  and  wishes  to  speak 
with  him,  the  other  immediately  appears  present.  This 
is  common  there,  and  never  fails.  This  is  because  there 
is  not  distance  in  the  spiritual  world  as  in  the  natural, 
but  only  an  appearance  of  distance.  Again,  as  thought 
from  any  knowledge  of  another  causes  presence,  so  love 
from  any  affection  for  him,  causes  union  ;  from  which  it 
happens  that  they  come  together,  converse  amicably, 
dwell  in  one  house,  or  in  one  society,  meet  frequently, 
and  exchange  services.  The  contrary  also  takes  place; 
as  that  he  who  does  not  love  another,  or  still  more,  he 
who  hates  another,  does  not  see  or  meet  him,  and  they 
are  distant  according  to  the  degree  in  which  he  does  not 
love,  or  hates ;  nay,  more,  if  he  is  present,  and  remem- 
bers his  hatred,  he  becomes  invisible. 

From  these  brief  examples  may  appear  the  origin  of 
presence  and  of  union  in  the  spiritual  world,  viz.,  that 
presence  arises  from  the  remembrance  of  another  with 
a  desire  to  see  him,  and  union,  from  tlie  influence  of 
love.  It  is  similar  with  all  things  in  the  human  mind. 
In  it  are  things  innumerable,  and  each  one  is  associated 
with  and  united  to  the  others  according  to  affections,  or 
as  one  thing  loves  another.  This  union  is  a  spiritual 
union,  which  is  like  i(self  in  general  and  in  particulars. 
This  spiritual  union  takes  its  origin  from  the  union  of 
the  Lord  with  the  spiiitual  world  and  with  the  natural 


UNION  WITH  GOD  BY  LIFE. 


317 


world  in  general  and  in  particular.  From  which  it  is 
plain  that  so  far  as  any  one  has  a  knowledge  of  the 
Lord,  and  from  knowledge  thinks  of  Him,  so  far  the 
Lord  is  present ;  and  so  far  as  any  one  acknowledges 
Him  from  love,  so  far  the  Lord  is  united  to  him.  And 
on  the  other  hand,  that  so  far  as  any  one  does  not  ac- 
knowledge Him,  the  Lord  is  absent ;  and  so  far  as  any 
one  denies  Him,  he  is  separated  from  Him.  Union 
causes  the  Lord  to  turn  the  man's  face  toward  Him, 
and  then  to  lead  him ;  and  separation  causes  hell  to 
turn  the  man's  face  toward  it,  and  to  lead  him  ;  there- 
fore all  the  angels  of  heaven  turn  their  faces  toward 
the  Lord  as  a  Sun  ;  and  all  the  spirits  of  hell  turn  their 
faces  away  from  Him.  From  this  it  is  clear  what  the 
acknowledgment  of  God  effects,  and  what  the  denial  of 
Him.  And  they  who  deny  God  in  the  world  deny  Him 
after  death ;  and  they  become  organized  according  to 
the  description  given  above,  p.  302 ;  and  the  organiza- 
tion assumed  in  the  world  remains  forever. 

2(1.  Every  one  acknowledges  God,  and  is  united  to  Him, 
according  to  the  good  of  his  life.  All  who  know  anything 
of  religion  may  know  God ;  also  from  knowledge  or 
memory  talk  about  Him  ;  and  some  also  can  think  of 
Him  from  the  understanding ;  but  this,  unless  the  man 
has  also  lived  well,  effects  nothing  but  presence ;  for  he 
can  none  the  less  turn  himself  away  from  God  and 
toward  hell,  as  he  does  if  he  lives  wickedly.  But  none 
can  in  heart  acknowledge  God  except  those  who  have 
lived  well  ;  these  the  Lord,  according  to  the  good  of 
27* 


318 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


their  lives,  turns  away  from  hell  and  toward  Himself. 
This  is  because  tliey  aloue  love  God  ;  for  they  love  the 
Diviue  things  that  are  from  Him,  observiug  them  in 
their  conduct.  The  Diviue  things  that  are  from  God 
are  the  precepts  of  his  law ;  these  are  God,  because  He 
is  his  own  proceeding  Divine ;  and  this  [keeping  of 
these  precepts]  is  to  love  Him.  Therefore  the  Lord 
says :  "  He  that  hath  my  commandments  and  keepcth 
them,  he  it  is  that  loveth  me ;  ...  he  that  lovetb  me 
not  keepeth  not  my  sayings,"  John  xiv.  21,  24.  For 
this  reason  there  are  two  tables  of  the  decalogue  —  one 
for  God,  and  the  other  for  man.  God  works  contin- 
ually, in  order  that  man  may  receive  what  is  in  iiis 
table  ;  but  if  man  does  not  do  what  is  commanded  in 
his  table,  he  does  not  with  a  hearty  acknowledgment 
receive  what  is  iu  God's  table  ;  and  if  he  does  not 
receive,  he  is  not  united  to  God.  Therefore  these  two 
tables  are  so  united  as  to  form  one,  and  they  are  called 
the  tables  of  the  covenant;  and  a  covenant  signifies 
union.  The  reason  why  every  one  acknowledges  God, 
and  is  united  to  Him  according  to  the  good  of  his  life, 
is  that  good  of  life  is  similar  to  tlie  good  which  is  in  the 
Lord,  and  consequently  to  that  which  is  from  the  Lord; 
therefore  when  man's  life  is  good,  union  is  effected. 
With  wickedness  of  life  the  contrary  is  the  case ;  this 
rejects  the  Lord. 

3d.  Good  of  life,  or  to  live  well,  is  to  shun  evils  because 
they  are  contrary  to  religion,  thus  contrary  to  God.  That 
this  is  good  of  life,  or  living  well,  is  fully  shown  iu  the 


PRINCIPLES  OF  ALL  RELIGIONS. 


319 


Doctrine  of  Life  for  the  New  Church  from  begiuuiiig 
to  end.  To  which  I  will  merely  add,  that  if  you  do 
good  with  all  your  might  —  if  you  build  temples,  dec- 
orate them  and  fill  them  with  donations,  sustain  hos- 
pitals and  asylums,  give  alms  daily,  succor  widows  and 
orphans,  punctiliously  observe  the  holy  [ceremonies]  of 
worship ;  nay,  if  you  think  and  talk  aud  preach  about 
them  as  if  from  the  heart,  and  yet  do  not  shun  evils  as 
sins  against  God,  all  that  good  is  not  good  ;  it  is  either 
hypocritical  or  meritorious,  since  evil  is  still  inwardly 
within  it.  For  every  one's  life  is  in  everything  aud  in 
all  things  that  he  does ;  aud  good  [works]  become  good 
only  by  the  removal  from  them  of  evil.  Evidently, 
therefore,  to  shun  evils  because  they  are  contrary  to 
religion,  and  thus  contrary  to  God,  is  to  live  well. 

4th.  2Vie.se  arc  the  general  principles  of  all  religions, 
whereby  evei'y  one  may  he  saved.  To  acknowledge  God, 
and  not  to  do  evil  because  it  is  contrary  to  God,  are  the 
two  things  which  cause  religion  to  be  religion  ;  if  either 
one  is  wanting  it  cannot  be  called  religion;  for  to  ac- 
knowledge God  and  to  do  evil  is  contradictory ;  also  to 
do  good  and  not  to  acknowledge  God :  for  one  is  impos- 
sible without  the  other.  It  is  provided  by  the  Lord 
that  almost  everywhere  there  should  be  some  religion  ; 
and  that  in  every  religion  there  should  be  those  two 
principles.  And  it  is  also  provided  by  the  Lord  that 
every  one  who  acknowledges  God  and  does  not  do  evil 
because  it  is  contrary  to  Him,  should  have  a  place  in 
heaven ;  for  heaven  in  the  complex  resembles  one  man, 


320  THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


whose  life  or  soul  is  tlie  Lord.  In  that  heavenly  jSIan 
are  all  things  tiiat  are  in  a  natural  man,  with  a  differ- 
ence like  tliat  between  what  is  heavenly  and  what  is 
natural.  It  is  known  that  in  man  there  are  not  only 
forms  organized  of  blood-vessels  and  nervous  fibres, 
and  called  viscera,  but  also  skins,  membranes,  tendons, 
cartilages,  bones,  nails,  and  teeth  ;  these  latter  are  alive 
in  a  lower  degree  than  the  organized  forms  themselves, 
to  which  they  are  subservient  as  ligaments,  coverings, 
and  supports.  That  heavenly  Man,  who  is  heaven,  in 
order  that  all  these  parts  may  be  in  him,  cannot  betom- 
posed  of  men  of  one  religion  only,  but  of  men  of  many 
religions ;  therefore  all  who  make  those  two  universal 
principles  of  the  church  a  part  of  their  life  have  a 
jilace  in  that  heavenly  Man,  that  is,  in  heaven,  and 
enjoy  happiness  iu  their  own  degree. — 

III. —  Man  himself  is  to  blame  if  he  is  not  saved. 
Every  rational  man  at  the  mere  hearing  of  it  acknowl- 
edges this  to  be  true :  that  good  cannot  proceed  from 
evil,  nor  evil  from  good,  because  they  are  opposites ; 
consequently  that  nothing  but  good  can  proceed  from 
good,  and  nothing  but  evil  from  evil.  When  this  is 
acknowledged  to  be  true,  it  is  also  acknowledged  that 
good  can  be  turned  into  evil,  not  by  a  good  but  by  an 
evil  recipient;  for  every  form  turns  into  its  own  quality 
whatever  flows  into  it.  Now  as  the  Lord  is  Good  in  its 
own  essence,  or  Good  itself,  it  is  obvious  that  evil  can- 
not proceed  from  the  Lord  or  be  2)rodaced  by  Him,  but 
that  his  good  may  be  turned  into  evil  by  a  recipient 


CONSUMMATIONS. 


321 


subject,  the  form  of  which  is  a  form  of  evil.  Such  a 
subject  is  mau  as  to  liis  selfhood  ;  this  contiuually  re- 
ceives good  from  the  Lord,  aud  coutinuiilly  turus  it 
into  the  nature  of  its  own  form,  which  is  a  form  of  evil. 
It  tiierefore  follows  that  man  is  to  blame  if  he  is  not 
saved.  The  evil  is  indeed  from  hell,  but  because  mau 
receives  it  therefrom  as  his  own,  aud  thereby  appro- 
priates it,  it  is  the  same  whether  evil  is  said  to  be  from 
man  or  from  hell.  But  whence  arises  the  appropriation 
of  evil  to  such  an  extent  that  finally  religion  perishes, 
shall  be  explained. — 

1st.  Li  process  of  time  every  religion  decreases  and  is 
consummated. — On  this  earth  thei-e  have  been  churches 
from  the  most  ancient  time  even  to  the  present.  These 
churches  are  described  in  the  Word,  but  not  histori- 
cally, excepting  the  Israelitish  or  Judaic  church,  before 
which,  nevertheless,  there  were  several,  aud  these  are 
only  there  described  by  the  names  of  nations  aud  per- 
sons, and  by  a  few  particulars  concerning  them.  Tlie 
most  ancient  church,  which  was  the  first,  is  described 
by  Adam  and  his  wife  Eve.  The  next,  which  must  be 
called  the  ancient  church,  is  described  by  Noah  and  his 
three  sons,  and  by  their  posterity.  This  was  a  great 
church,  and  extended  over  many  kingdoms  of  Asia, 
the  land  of  Canaan  on  both  sides  of  Jordan,  Assyria 
and  Clialdea,  Mesopotamia,  Egypt,  Arabia,  Tyre,  and 
Sidon. —  But  this  church  was  greatly  changed  by  Heber, 
from  whom  arose  the  Hebraic  church.  In  this  church 
was  first  instituted  worshij)  by  sacrifices.  From  the 
V 


322  THE  SWEDENDORG  LIDRART.' 

Hebraic  church  was  born  the  Israelitish  or  Judaic 
church,  but  it  was  solemnly  instituted  on  account  of 
the  Word  which  was  to  be  there  compiled.  These  four 
churches  are  meant  by  tlie  statue  seen  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar in  his  dream,  the  head  of  which  was  of  pure 
gold,  the  breast  and  arras  of  silver,  the  belly  and  thighs 
of  brass,  and  the  legs  and  feet  of  iron  and  clay.  Dan. 
ii.  32,  33.  Nor  is  anything  else  meant  by  the  golden, 
silver,  brazen  and  iron  ages  mentioned  by  ancient 
writers.  That  the  Christian  church  succeeded  the 
Judaic  is  known.  That  all  these  churches  in  process 
of  time  decreased  even  to  their  end  which  is  called 
their  Consummation,  may  also  be  seen  from  the  Word. 

2d.  Every  religion  decreiises  mid  is  consummated  by 
the  inversion  of  God's  image  in  man. —  God  alone  is 
Love  and  Wisdom  ;  man  was  created  to  be  a  receptacle 
of  both,  his  will  to  be  a  receptacle  of  the  Divine  Love, 
and  his  understanding  a  receptacle  of  the  Divine  AVis- 
dom.  These  two  receptacles  are  in  man  from  creation, 
and  constitute  him,  and  are  even  formed  in  every  one 
in  the  womb. —  The  receptacle  called  the  understanding 
is  the  image  of  God,  and  that  called  the  will  is  the  like- 
ness of  God.  Therefore  as  man  was  created  and  formed 
to  be  a  recei)tacle,  it  follows  that  he  was  created  and 
formed  in  order  that  his  will  might  receive  love  from 
God,  and  his  understanding  wisdom  from  God,  which 
also  he  does  receive  when  he  acknowledges  God  and 
lives  according  to  his  precepts,  but  in  a  greater  or 
less  degree  iu  pioportion  to  his  knowledge  of  God 


TRANSMITTED  EVIL. 


323 


and  his  precepts  from  religion,  consequently  in  propor- 
tion to  his  knowledge  of  truths. —  The  image  and  like- 
ness of  God  are  not  lost  in  man,  but  they  are  as  if  lost ; 
for  they  remain  enrooted  in  his  two  faculties  called  lib- 
erty and  rationality.  They  became  as  if  lost,  when  man 
made  the  receptacle  of  Divine  Love,  which  is  his  will, 
a  receptacle  of  self-love ;  and  the  receptacle  of  Divine 
Wisdom,  which  is  his  understanding,  a  receptacle  of 
self-derived  intelligence.  In  this  way  he  inverted  the 
image  and  likeness  of  God,  for  he  turned  those  rece}> 
tacles  away  from  God  and  toward  himself. —  Therefore 
there  has  sprung  up  in  the  churches  the  worship  of  man 
instead  of  the  worship  of  God,  and  worship  from  false 
instead  of  fi'om  true  doctrine  —  the  latter  from  self- 
derived  intelligence,  the  former  from  self-love.  Evi- 
dently, therefore,  religion  in  process  of  time  decreases 
and  is  consummated  by  the  inversion  of  God's  image 
in  man. 

3d.  This  arises  from  the  continual  increase  of  hereditary 
evil  from  generation  to  generation.  It  is  stated  and  shown 
above,  that  hereditary  evil  is  not  from  Adam  and  his 
wife  Eve  by  their  eating  from  the  tree  of  knowledge, 
but  that  it  is  successively  derived,  and  is  transmitted 
from  parents  to  offspring,  and  so  by  continual  increase 
grows  worse  from  generation  to  generation.  When 
evil  thus  grows  worse  among  many,  it  naturally  spreads 
to  more ;  for  there  is  in  all  evil  a  lust  of  seducing,  in 
some  burning  with  rage  against  goodness ;  hence  the 
contagiousness  of  evil.    AVhen  this  has  taken  posses- 


324  THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


sion  of  the  rulers,  moderators  and  leaders  in  the  church, 
religion  becomes  perverted,  and  the  means  of  cure  which 
are  truths,  become  corrupted  by  falsification.  These 
now  are  the  causes  of  the  gradual  devastation  of  good 
and  desolation  of  truth  in  the  church,  even  to  its  con- 
summation. 

4th.  Still  it  is  provided  by  the  Lord  that  every  one  may 
he  saved.  It  is  provided  by  the  Lord  that  there  should 
everywhere  be  a  religion,  and  that  in  every  religion 
there  should  be  the  two  essentials  of  salvation,  which 
are,  to  acknowledge  God,  and  not  to  do  evil  because  it 
is  contrary  to  God.  All  other  things  which  belong  to 
the  understanding  and  therefore  to  thought,  and  are 
called  matters  of  faith,  are  provided  for  every  one  ac- 
cording to  his  life,  for  they  are  accessories  of  life ;  and 
if  they  precede  [the  reception  of  essentials],  still  they 
do  not  before  receive  life.  It  is  moreover  provided  that 
all  who  have  lived  well  and  acknowledged  God  should 
after  death  be  instructed  by  angels ;  and  then  they  who 
in  the  world  were  principled  in  those  two  essentials  of 
religion,  accept  the  truths  of  the  church  such  as  are  in 
the  Word,  and  acknowledge  the  Lord  as  the  God  of 
heaven  and  the  church  ;  and  this  they  receive  more 
readily  than  Christians  who  have  brought  with  them 
from  the  world  an  idea  of  the  Lord's  Humanity  sepa- 
rated from  his  Divinity. 

It  is  also  provided  by  the  Lord,  that  all  who  die  in 
infancy  should  be  saved,  wherever  they  may  be  born. 
There  is  also  given  to  every  man  after  death  the  oppor- 


ALL  PREDESTINED  TO  HEAVEN. 


325 


tunity  to  amend  his  life,  if  possible.  They  are  iustructed 
and  led  by  the  Lord  through  angels ;  and  as  they  then 
know  that  they  live  after  death,  and  that  there  is  a 
heaven  and  a  hell,  they  at  first  receive  truths.  But 
they  who  in  the  world  have  not  acknowledged  God 
and  shunned  evils  as  sins,  soon  grow  weary  of  truths 
and  recede  from  them ;  and  they  who  acknowledged 
God  with  the  lips  but  not  with  the  heart,  are  like  the 
foolish  virgins  who  had  lamps  but  no  oil,  and  asked 
oil  of  the  others,  and  moreover  went  away  and  bought 
it,  and  yet  were  not  admitted  to  the  marriage.  Lamps 
signify  the  truths  of  faith,  and  oil  the  good  of  charity. 
From  this  it  may  be  evident  that  the  Divine  Providence 
wills  that  every  man  be  saved,  and  that  man  himself  is 
to  blame  if  he  is  not  saved. 

5th.  It  is  provided  also,  that  a  new  church  should  suc- 
ceed in  the  place  of  the  former  devastated  church.  It  has 
been  the  case  since  the  most  ancient  times,  that  a  new 
church  has  succeeded  the  former  devastated  church. 
The  ancient  church  succeeded  the  most  ancient;  the 
Israelitish  or  Judaic  church  succeeded  the  ancient; 
after  this  came  the  Christian  church  ;  and  after  this 
again  will  come  the  New  Church  foretold  in  the  Revela- 
tion, which  is  there  meant  by  the  New  Jerusalem  de- 
scending from  heaven. — 

IV. —  All  are  thus  predestined  to  heaven,  and  noiie  to 
hell.  The  Lord  does  not  send  any  one  to  hell,  but  the 
spirit  goes  there  himself.  This  takes  place  with  every 
wicked  person  after  death,  and  in  like  manner  with 
28 


326 


THE  SWEDENBORO  LIBRARY. 


every  wicked  man  in  the  world  ;  with  tlie  difference 
that  in  the  world  he  may  be  reformed,  and  may  em- 
brace and  be  imbued  with  the  means  of  salvation  ;  but 
not  after  his  departure  from  the  world.  The  means  of 
salvation  relate  to  these  two,  that  evils  ought  to  be 
shunned  because  they  are  contrary  to  the  Divine  laws 
in  the  decalogue,  and  that  the  existence  of  God  ought 
to  be  acknowledged.  This  every  one  is  able  to  do, 
provided  he  does  not  love  evils  ;  for  the  Lord  flows  con- 
tinually into  man's  will  with  a  power  that  renders  him 
able  to  shun  evils,  and  into  his  understanding  with  a 
power  that  renders  him  able  to  think  that  God  is ;  yet 
no  person  can  do  the  one  unless  he  also  does  the  other ; 
the  two  are  united  like  the  two  tables  of  the  decalogue, 
one  of  which  is  from  the  Lord  and  the  other  from  man. 
Tlie  Lord  from  his  table  enlightens  every  man  and 
gives  him  power  ;  but  man  receives  that  power  and 
enlightenment  just  so  far  as  he  does  what  is  commanded 
in  his  table. —  What  is  the  decalogue  at  this  day,  but 
like  a  sealed  book  or  writing  opened  only  in  tlie  hands 
of  children  and  youth  ?  Ask  any  one  of  mature  age 
not  to  do  this  or  that,  because  it  is  contrary  to  the  deca- 
logue :  who  pays  any  attention  to  it?  But  if  you  ask 
him  not  to  do  it,  because  it  is  contrary  to  Divine  laws, 
he  may  pay  attention ;  when,  nevertheless,  the  precepts 
of  the  decalogue  are  the  Divine  laws  themselves.  The 
experiment  was  made  with  several  in  the  spiritual  world, 
and  when  the  decalogue  was  mentioned  they  rejected 
it  with  contempt.    This  was  because  the  decalogue  iu 


FATHERHOOD  OF  GOD. 


327 


the  second  table,  which  is  man's,  teaches  that  evils 
ought  to  be  shunned;  and  he  who  does  not  shun  them 
(whether  from  impiety  or  from  a  religious  belief  that 
works  effect  nothing,  but  only  faith),  always  hears  the 
decalogue  mentioned  with  some  degree  of  contempt,  as 
he  might  some  book  for  children,  which  is  no  longer  of 
any  use  to  him. 

These  statements  are  made  to  show  that  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  means  whereby  he  may  be  saved  is  not 
wanting  to  any  man,  nor  the  power,  if  he  desires  to  be 
saved.  From  which  it  follows  that  all  are  predestined 
to  heaven  and  none  to  hell.  But  since  with  many  there 
prevails  a  belief  in  predestination  to  non-salvation  which 
is  damnation  ;  and  as  this  belief  is  a  pernicious  one,  and 
cannot  be  destroyed  except  reason  also  sees  the  madness 
and  cruelty  of  it ;  it  must  be  treated  of  in  the  follow- 
ing order :  — '■ 

1st.  Any  predestination  except  to  heaven,  is  contrary 
to  the  Divine  Love,  which  is  infinite.  Since  every  man 
is  formed  in  the  womb  in  the  image  and  after  the  like- 
ness of  God,  it  follows  that  the  Lord  is  the  heavenly 
Father  of  all  men,  and  that  men  are  his  spiritual 
children.  Jehovah  or  the  Lord  is  also  so  called  in  the 
Word,  and  men  likewise;  wherefore  He  says:  "Call 
no  man  your  father  upon  the  earth ;  for  one  is  your 
Father,  who  is  in  heaven,"  Matt,  xxiii.  9  ;  which  means 
that  He  alone  is  the  Father  as  to  life,  and  that  the 
eailhly  father  is  only  a  father  as  to  life's  clothing  which 
is  the  body  ;  wherefore  in  heaven  no  one  is  called  Father 


328  THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


but  the  Lord.  That  men  who  have  not  perverted  that 
life  are  said  to  be  his  sons  and  born  of  Him,  is  also 
plain  from  many  places  in  the  Word.  It  may,  there- 
fore, be  seen  that  the  Divine  Love  is  in  every  man, 
wicked  and  good  alike;  consequently,  that  the  Lord 
who  is  the  Divine  Love,  cannot  act  toward  them  other- 
wise than  as  an  earthly  father  acts  toward  his  children, 
and  infinitely  more  so,  because  the  Divine  Love  is  in- 
finite ;  and  again,  that  He  cannot  withdraw  from  any 
one,  because  every  one's  life  is  from  Him.  He  seems 
to  depart  from  the  wicked  ;  but  they  depart  from  Him, 
while  He  from  love  still  leads  them.  Wherefore  the 
Lord  says  :  "  Ask  and  it  shall  be  given  you  ;  seek  and 
ye  shall  find  ;  knock  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you.  .  . 
Or  what  man  is  there  of  you,  whom  if  his  son  ask  bread 
will  he  give  him  a  stone  ?  .  .  If  ye,  then,  being  evil, 
know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  cliildren,  how 
much  more  shall  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven  give 
good  things  to  them  that  ask  him?"  Matt.  vii.  7-11 ;  and 
elsewhere,  that  "  He  maketh  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil 
and  on  the  good,  and  seudeth  rain  on  the  just  and  tiie 
unjust,"  Matt.  v.  45.  It  is  also  known  in  the  church  that 
the  Lord  desires  the  salvation  of  all,  and  the  death  of 
none.  From  this  it  may  be  seen  that  any  predestination, 
except  to  heaven,  is  contrary  to  the  Divine  Love. 

2d.  Any  predestinalion  except  to  heaven  is  contrary  to 
tlic  Divine  Wi.--(I<jiii  which  is  infinite.  The  Divine  Love 
by  its  own  Divine  Wisdom  provides  the  means  whereby 
every  man  may  bu  saved.    Therefore  to  say  that  tliere 


ALL  MAY  BE  SAVED. 


329 


is  any  predestination  except  to  heaven,  is  to  say  that  the 
Divine  Love  cannot  provide  the  means  of  salvation, 
when  yet  all  possess  tlie  means ;  and  they  are  from  the 
Divine  Providence  which  is  infinite.  But  that  some 
are  not  saved  is  because  the  Divine  Love  desires  that 
man  should  feel  the  happiness  and  blessedness  of 
heaven  in  himself ;  otherwise  it  would  not  be  heaven  to 
him.  And  this  is  impossible,  unless  man's  thought  and 
volition  appear  to  be  from  himself;  for  without  this 
appearance  nothing  would  be  appropriated  to  him,  nor 
would  he  be  man.  Tliis  is  the  object  of  the  Divine 
Providence,  which  belongs  to  the  Divine  Wisdom  from 
the  Divine  Love.  But  this  does  not  invalidate  the 
truth  that  all  are  predestined  to  heaven,  and  none  to 
hell.  But  if  the  means  of  salvation  were  wanting,  it 
would.  But  the  means  of  salvation  are  provided  for 
everyone;  and  heaven  is  such  that  all  who  live  well,  of 
whatever  religion,  have  a  place  in  it.  Man  is  like  soil 
which  produces  all  kinds  of  fruits,  owing  to  which 
faculty  soil  is  soil.  That  it  also  produces  evil  fruits 
does  not  prevent  its  being  able  to  produce  good  fruits; 
but  it  would  do  so  if  it  could  produce  none  but  evil 
fruits.  ]\Ian  is  also  like  an  object  which  variegates  in 
itself  the  rays  of  light.  If  it  presents  only  unpleasing 
colors  the  cause  is  not  in  the  light;  the  rays  of  light 
may  also  be  variegated  in  pleasing  colors. 

3d.  That  only  those  who  are  born  within  the  church  are 
saved,  is  an  insane  heresy.  Those  who  are  born  out  of 
the  church  are  men  equally  witli  those  who  are  born 


330 


THE  SWEDEXBORG  LIBRARY. 


within  it,  are  from  the  same  heavenly  origin,  and  are 
equally  living  and  immortal  souls.  They  also  have  a 
religion,  from  which  they  acknowledge  that  God  is,  and 
that  man  ought  to  live  well ;  and  he  who  acknowledges 
God  and  lives  well  becomes  spiritual  in  his  degree,  and 
is  saved.  It  is  said  that  they  are  not  baptized  ;  but 
baptizing  saves  none  but  those  who  are  spiritually 
washed,  that  is,  regenerated ;  for  baptism  is  for  a  sign 
and  a  memorial  of  this.  They  are  said  to  be  without  a 
knowledge  of  the  Lord ;  and  without  the  Lord  there  is 
no  salvation  ;  but  there  is  no  salvation  for  any  one  Ije- 
cause  he  has  a  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  but  because  he 
lives  according  to  his  precepts.  Moreover,  every  one 
who  acknowledges  God  has  a  knowledge  of  the  Lord  ; 
for  He  is  the  God  of  heaven  and  earth,  as  He  him- 
self teaches  in  Matt,  xxviii.  18,  and  elsewhere.  And 
furthermore,  they  who  are  without  the  church  conceive 
of  God  as  a  Man  more  than  Christians  do ;  and  they 
wlio  conceive  of  God  as  a  Man,  and  live  well,  are  ac- 
cepted by  the  Lord.  They  also  acknowledge  that  God 
is  one  in  essence  and  person,  as  Christians  do  not. 
They  also  think  of  God  in  their  life,  for  they  hold  evils 
to  be  sins  against  Him  ;  and  they  who  do  this,  think  of 
God  in  their  life.  Christians  have  the  precepts  of  re- 
ligion from  the  Word  ;  but  there  are  few  who  draw  from 
it  any  precepts  of  life.  The  papists  do  not  read  it ;  the 
Reformed  who  are  in  faith  separate  from  charity,  pay 
no  attention  to  what  relates  to  life  in  it,  but  only  to 
what  relates  to  faith  ;  and  yet  the  whole  Word  is  uoth- 


A  CRUEL  BELIEF. 


331 


ing  but  tlie  Doctrine  of  Life.  Christianity  exists  only 
in  Europe ;  Mohamiuedanisna  and  Geutilism  occupy 
Asia,  the  Indies,  Africa  and  America;  and  the  human 
race  in  these  parts  of  the  globe  is  ten  times  more  nu- 
merous than  in  the  Christian  portion ;  and  in  the  latter 
there  are  few  who  place  religion  in  life.  What  greater 
madness  can  there  be,  therefore,  than  to  believe  that 
these  latter  only  are  saved,  and  the  former  damned? 
and  that  man  obtains  heaven  by  birth,  and  not  by  life? 
Wherefore  the  Lord  says :  "  I  say  unto  you,  that  many 
shall  come  from  the  east  and  west,  and  shall  sit  down 
with  Abraham  and  Isaac  and  Jacob  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  ;  but  the  children  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  cast 
out,"  Matt.  viii.  11,  12. 

4th.  Tliat  any  of  the  human  race  are  damned  by  pre- 
destination, is  a  cruel  heresy.  For  it  is  cruel  to  believe 
that  the  Lord,  who  is  Love  itself  and  jNIercy  itself,  suf- 
fers such  a  vast  multitude  of  men  to  be  born  for  hell,  or 
so  many  myriads  of  myriads  to  be  born  damned  and 
doomed,  that  is,  to  be  born  devils  and  satans ;  and  that 
He  does  not  from  his  Divine  Wisdom  provide  that  they 
who  live  well  and  acknowledge  God  should  not  be  cast 
into  eternal  fire  and  torment.  He  is  still  the  Lord,  the 
Creator  and  Saviour  of  all ;  and  He  alone  leads  all,  and 
desires  not  the  death  of  any.  Therefore  it  is  cruel  to 
believe  and  think  that  so  great  a  multitude  of  nations 
and  peoples  under  his  auspices  and  oversight,  should 
by  predestination  be  handed  over  as  a  prey  to  the  devil. 
(D.  P.,  n.  320-330.) 


XVIII. 

THE  LORD  CANNOT  ACT  CONTRARY  TO  THE  LA  WS 
OF  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE,  FOR  THIS  WOULD 
BE  ACTING  CONTRARY  TO  HIMSELF. 

F  all  that  proceeds  from  the  Lord  the  Divine 
Provideuce  is  primary  ;  for  it  is  constantly  in 
the  end  for  which  the  universe  was  created. 
The  operation  and  progress  of  the  end  through 
the  means  is  what  is  called  the  Divine  Providence. — 
The  Lord  may  also  be  said  to  be  Providence,  as  God  is 
said  to  be  Order  ;  for  the  Divine  Providence  is  the 
Divine  Order  with  primary  reference  to  man's  salvation. 
And  as  order  cannot  exist  without  laws,  for  laws  con- 
stitute it,  and  each  law  derives  from  order  its  existence 
as  order  also,  it  therefore  follows,  that  as  God  is  Order, 
so  is  He  also  the  law  of  his  own  Order.  The  same  must 
also  be  said  of  the  Divine  Providence;  that  is,  that  as 
the  Lord  is  his  own  Providence,  so  is  He  also  the  law  of 
liis  own  Providence.  It  is  therefore  plain  that  the  Lord 
cannot  act  contrary  to  the  laws  of  his  own  Divine 
Providence,  because  to  do  so  would  be  to  act  contrary 
to  Himself 

Furthermore,  no  operation  is  possible  except  upon  a 
subject;  and  this  through  means.  The  subject  of  the 
Divine  Providence  is  man  ;  the  means  are  the  Divine 


CEASELESS  WORKING  OF  PROVIDENCE.  333 

truths  by  which  man  obtains  wisdom,  and  the  Divine 
good  whereby  he  obtains  love.  The  Divine  Providence 
through  these  means  works  out  its  end,  which  is  man's 
salvation  ;  for  he  who  desires  an  end,  desires  also  the 
means.  Therefore  when  he  who  desires  to  do  so,  works 
out  an  end,  he  accomplishes  it  by  means.  But  these 
statements  will  become  clearer  when  examined  in  the 
following  order : — 

I. —  The  operation  of  the  Divine  Providence  to  save  man 
begins  at  his  birth,  and  continues  until  the  end  of  his  life, 
and  afterward  to  eternity.  It  is  shown  above  that  a 
heaven  from  the  human  race  is  the  very  end  of  the 
creation  of  the  universe,  and  that  this  end  in  its  opera- 
tion and  progress  is  the  Divine  Providence  [laboring] 
to  save  men. — Examine  a  fmit  tree.  Is  it  not  first  born 
as  a  slender  shoot  from  a  diminutive  seed,  and  does  it 
not  afterward  gradually  grow  to  a  trunk  and  spread 
forth  branches  covered  with  leaves,  and  then  put  forth 
blossoms  and  bear  fruit,  placing  therein  new  seeds 
whereby  it  prepares  for  its  perpetuity?  A  similar  pro- 
cess takes  place  with  every  shrub  and  every  herb  of  the 
field.  Do  not  all  things  both  general  and  particular  in 
these,  proceed  constantly  and  wonderfully  from  end  to 
end  according  to  the  laws  of  their  order?  Why  not  the 
primary  end  likewise,  which  is  a  heaven  from  the  human 
race  ?  Can  there  be  anything  in  its  progress  which  does 
not  proceed  most  constantly  according  to  the  laws  of 
the  Divine  Providence? 

As  there  is  a  correspondence  between  man's  life  and 


334 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


the  growth  of  a  tree,  let  an  analogy  or  comparison  be 
drawn  between  them.  Man's  infancy  is  comparatively 
like  a  tree's  tender  shoot  springing  from  the  seed  out  of 
the  ground ;  bis  childhood  and  youth  are  like  that 
shoot  growing  to  a  trunk  and  lirauchlets ;  the  natural 
truths  which  every  man  first  imbibes  are  like  the  leaves 
with  which  the  branches  are  first  covered  (leaves  in  tiie 
AVord  signify  nothing  else) ;  man's  initiations  into  the 
marriage  of  the  good  and  true,  or  the  spiritual  mar- 
riage, are  like  the  blossoms  which  that  tree  produces  in 
spring ;  spiritual  truths  are  the  leaflets  of  those  blos- 
soms ;  the  primitive  things  of  the  spiritual  marriage 
are  like  the  inchoate  forms  of  the  fruit ;  spiritual  good, 
which  is  the  good  of  charity,  is  like  the  fruit ;  these  are 
also  signified  by  fruit  in  the  Word  :  tlie  procreations  of 
wisdom  from  love  are  like  seeds,  by  which  procreations 
man  becomes  like  a  garden  and  a  paradise.  Man  is 
also  described  in  the  Word  by  a  tree,  and  his  wisdom 
originating  in  love  by  a  garden.  The  garden  of  Eden 
signifies  nothing  else.  Man  is  indeed  a  bad  tree  from 
the  seed ;  but  still  branchlets  taken  from  the  tree  of 
Life  may  be  inserted  in  or  engrafted  ujion  him,  whereby 
the  sap  drawn  from  the  old  root  is  turned  into  sap  form- 
ing good  fruit.  This  comparison  is  drawn  to  show  that 
when  there  is  so  constant  a  progression  of  the  Divine 
Providence  in  the  growth  and  regeneration  of  trees,  it 
must  by  all  means  be  constant  in  the  reformation  and 
regeneration  of  men,  who  are  of  much  more  value  than 
trees,  according  to  the  words  of  the  Lord  in  Luke  xii. 
6,  7,  25-28.— 


DESTINY  OF  ALL  FORESEEN. 


335 


The  Lord  sees  the  nature  of  a  man,  and  foresees  of 
what  nature  he  wishes  to  be,  and  thus  of  what  nature 
he  will  be.  And  in  order  that  he  may  be  a  man  and 
therefore  immortal,  the  freedom  of  his  will  must  not 
be  taken  away.  Therefore  the  Lord  foresees  his  state 
after  death,  and  provides  for  it  from  his  birth  until  the 
end  of  his  life.  With  the  wicked  He  provides  for  it  by 
permitting  and  continually  withdrawing  them  from 
evils ;  but  with  the  good  He  provides  for  it  by  con- 
tinually leading  them  to  good.  Thus  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence is  continually  operative  to  save  man  ;  but  no  more 
can  be  saved  than  desire  to  be  saved ;  and  they  desire 
it  who  acknowledge  God  and  are  led  by  Him ;  while 
they  do  not  desire  it  who  do  not  acknowledge  God,  and 
who  lead  themselves.  For  the  latter  do  not  think  about 
eternal  life  and  salvation,  but  the  former  do.  This  the 
Lord  sees ;  and  still  He  leads  them,  aud  leads  them  ac- 
cording to  the  laws  of  his  Divine  Providence,  contrary 
to  which  laws  He  cannot  act,  since  to  do  so  would  be 
to  act  contrary  to  his  own  Divine  Love  and  Wisdom, 
which  is  to  act  contrary  to  Himself. 

Now  as  the  Lord  foresees  the  states  of  all  after  death, 
and  also  foresees  in  hell  the  places  of  those  who  do  not, 
aud  in  heaven  the  places  of  those  who  do,  desire  to  be 
saved,  it  follows  that  He  provides  for  the  wicked  their 
places  by  permitting  and  withdrawing  [from  evil],  and 
for  the  good  their  places  by  leading  [to  good].  Unless 
this  were  done  continually  from  every  one's  birth  un- 
til the  end  of  his  life,  neither  heaven  nor  hell  would 


336 


THE  SWEDENBOnO  LIBRARY. 


endure.  This  may  be  illustrated  by  a  comparison  :  If 
an  archer  or  a  musketeer  should  aim  at  a  mark,  and  a 
horizontal  line  were  drawn  from  the  mark  beyond  it, 
a  distance  of  a  thousand  paces  ;  if  he  erred  but  a  hair's- 
breadth  in  his  aim,  the  arrow  or  ball  at  the  end  of  the 
thousand  paces  would  depart  very  far  from  the  horizontal 
line  drawn  beyond  the  mark.  So  would  it  be  if  the 
Lord  did  not  every  least  possible  moment  regard  the 
eternal  in  foreseeing  and  providing  every  one's  place 
after  death. 

The  operation  of  the  Divine  Providence  is  also  said 
to  continue  to  eternity  ;  for  every  angel  is  perfected  in 
wisdom  to  eternity,  but  each  according  to  the  degree  of 
his  affection  for  the  good  and  true,  which  he  entertained 
when  he  left  the  world.  It  is  this  degree  which  is  per- 
fected to  eternity.  Whatever  is  beyond  this  degree,  is 
without  the  angel  and  not  within  him  ;  and  that  which 
is  without  him  cannot  be  perfected  within  him.  This 
is  meant  by  the  "good  measure,  pressed  down  and 
shaken  together  and  running  over,"  which  shall  be  given 
into  the  bosom  of  those  who  forgive  and  give  to  others 
(Luke  vi.  37,  38),  that  is,  who  are  in  the  good  of 
charity. 

II. —  The  operation  of  the  Divine  Providence  is  carried 
on  continualhj  by  means,  out  of  pure  mercy.  There  are 
means  and  modes  pertaining  to  the  Divine  Providence. 
The  means  whereby  man  becomes  man  and  is  perfected 
in  understanding,  are  in  ordinary  language  called  truths, 
which  in  thought  become  ideas,  and  in  the  memory  are 


PROVIDENCE  EMPLOYS  MEANS. 


337 


called  facts;  in  themselves  they  are  cognitions,  from 
which  comes  knowledge.  All  these  means  viewed  in 
themselves  are  spiritual ;  but  as  they  are  contained  in 
natural  things,  from  their  covering  or  clothing  they 
seem  to  be  natural,  and  some  of  them  material.  These 
means  are  infinite  in  number  and  variety.  They  are 
more  or  less  simple  or  compound,  and  more  or  less  im- 
perfect or  perfect.  There  are  means  for  forming  and 
perfecting  the  civil-natural  life,  the  moral-rational  life, 
and  the  spiritual-hcaveidy  life.  These  meaus  follow  iu 
succession  one  kind  after  another,  from  man's  infancy 
to  the  last  period  of  his  life,  and  afterwards  to  eternity. 
And  as  they  follow  and  increase,  prior  acquisitions  be- 
come the  meaus  of  after  acquisitions,  for  they  enter  into 
everything  formed  as  mediate  causes ;  since  from  these 
causes  every  effect  or  every  result  is  itself  efficient,  and 
consequently  becomes  a  cause.  Thus  after  acquisitions 
gradually  become  means  ;  and  as  this  goes  on  to  eternity, 
tliere  is  no  final  or  ultimate  result  which  closes  the  prog- 
ress. For  as  the  eternal  is  without  end,  so  wisdom  which 
increases  to  eternity,  is  without  end.  If  there  were  an 
end  to  wisdom  with  a  wise  man,  the  delight  of  his  wis- 
dom would  perish  (which  consists  in  the  perpetual 
multiplication  and  fructification  of  it),  and  thus  the 
delight  of  his  life  and  the  delight  of  glory,  in  which 
delight  alone  there  is  no  heavenly  life,  would  take  its 
place.  The  wise  man  is  then  like  a  youth  no  longer, 
but  like  an  old  man,  and  finally  like  one  decrepit. 
Although  the  wisdom  of  a  wise  man  in  heaven  in- 
29  W 


338  THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


creases  to  eternity,  still  there  is  no  such  ai)proximatiori 
of  angelic  to  Divine  Wisdom  as  to  touch  it;  compara- 
tively as  a  straight  line  drawn  about  a  hyperbola  is 
^aid  to  approximate  continually  and  never  touch  it. — 
The  means  whereby  man  is  formed  and  perfected  iu 
will  are  equally  numerous;  but  these  in  ordinary  lan- 
guage are  called  good ;  in  them  originates  man's  love, 
but  iu  the  former  his  wisdom  :  their  union  makes  the 
man,  for  such  as  this  union  is,  such  is  the  man.  This 
union  is  what  is  called  the  marriage  of  the  good  and 
true. 

But  the  modes  by  which  the  Divine  Providence  oper- 
ates iu  and  through  the  means,  to  form  man  and  perfect 
him,  are  also  infinite  in  number  and  variety ;  as  numer- 
ous as  the  operations  of  the  Divine  Wisdom  from  the 
Divine  Love  to  save  man.  Tliat  these  modes  are  most 
secret,  is  illustrated  by  the  ojierations  of  the  soul  upon 
the  body,  of  which  man  knows  scarcely  anything ;  as 
how  the  eye,  ear,  nose,  tongue  and  skin  feel ;  how  -the 
stomach  digests  ;  how  the  mesentery  elaborates  the  chyle, 
and  the  liver  the  blood  ;  how  the  pancreas  and  spleen 
purify  it,  the  kidneys  separate  impure  humors  from  it, 
aud  the  heart  collects  and  distributes  it;  how  the  luugs 
withdraw  its  impurities  and  the  brain  refines  and  vivi- 
fies it  anew  ;  besides  innumerable  other  things  ;  all  of 
which  are  secrets  which  scarcely  any  knowledge  can 
penetrate.  Evidently,  therefore,  it  can  penetrate  still 
less  into  the  secret  operations  of  the  Divine  Providence  ; 
a  knowledge  of  its  laws  is  s.ifficient. 


NO  INSTANTANEOUS  SALVATION. 


339 


The  Divine  Providence  does  all  things  out  of  pure 
mercy,  becau.<e  the  very  Divine  Essence  is  pure  Love, 
aud  this  it  is  which  operates  through  Divine  Wisdom ; 
aud  this  operation  is  what  is  called  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence. This  pure  love  is  pure  mercy:  —  1.  Because  it 
is  operative  with  all  men  throughout  the  whole  world, 
who  are  such  that  they  can  do  nothing  of  themselves. 
2.  Because  it  is  equally  operative  with  the  wicked  and 
unrighteous  as  with  the  good  aud  righteous.  3.  Because 
it  leads  the  former  in  hell,  and  rescues  them  therefrom. 
4.  Because  it  there  perpetually  strives  with  them,  and 
fights  for  them  against  the  devil,  that  is,  against  the 
evils  of  hell.  5.  Because  it  came  into  the  world  aud 
underwent  temptations  even  to  the  last  of  them,  which 
was  the  passion  of  the  cross.  6.  Because  it  continually 
acts  with  the  impure  to  render  them  pure,  aud  with  the 
irrational  to  make  them  rational;  thus  it  labors  contin- 
ually out  of  pure  mercy. 

III. — Instantaneous  salvation  from  immediate  mercy  is 
not  possible. —  But  as  many  who  never  think  of  mattei-s 
pertaining  to  the  church  or  religion  from  the  under- 
standing, believe  that  they  are  saved  by  immediate 
mercy,  and  consequently  that  salvation  is  instanta- 
neous ;  and  as  this  is  nevertheless  contrary  to  the  truth, 
and  moreover  is  a  pernicious  belief,  it  is  of  importance 
that  the  subject  should  be  considered  in  its  proper 
order. — 

1st.  A  belief  in  instantaneous  salvation  out  of  immediate 
mercy  is  derived  from  the  natural  state  of  man.    The  nat- 


340 


THE  SWEDEXBOnO  LinRATiY. 


ural  man  from  his  state  knows  not  but  that  heavenly 
joy  is  like  earthly  joy,  and  that  it  inflows  and  is  re- 
ceived in  the  same  manner ;  for  example,  that  it  is  like 
the  state  of  a  poor  man  who  becomes  rich,  and  so  passes 
from  a  cheerless  condition  of  poverty  to  a  happy  condi- 
tion of  opulence ;  or  like  that  of  one  who  is  low,  and 
becomes  honorable,  and  so  passes  from  contempt  to 
glory  ;  or  like  that  of  one  who  goes  from  a  house  of 
mourning  to  the  joy  of  a  wedding.  Because  these 
states  may  be  changed  in  a  day,  and  no  difllerent  idea 
is  entertained  of  man's  state  after  death,  the  origin  of 
the  belief  in  instantaneous  salvation  out  of  immediate 
mercy  is  obvious.  In  the  world  many  persons  may  be 
together  in  one  company  or  in  one  community,  and  may 
enjoy  themselves  together ;  and  yet  all  differ  in  dispo- 
sitions. This  is  the  case  in  the  natural  state.  The 
reason  is,  that  the  external  of  one  man  may  be  accom- 
modated to  that  of  another,  however  unlike  their  inter- 
nals may  be.  From  this  natural  state  also  the  conclu- 
sion is  drawn,  that  salvation  is  merely  admission  among 
the  angels  in  heaven,  and  that  admission  is  granted 
from  immediate  mercy.  Therefore  it  is  also  believed 
that  heaven  may  be  bestowed  upon  the  wicked  as  well 
as  the  good,  and  that  then  their  association  is  like  what 
it  is  in  the  world,  with  the  difference  that  it  is  full  of 
joy. 

2d.  This  belief  arises  from  ignorance  of  the  spiritual 
state,  xohich  is  altogether  different  from  the  natural.  The 
spiritual  state  is  that  of  man  after  death.    Every  man 


SPTRITUAL  AFFINITY. 


341 


is  his  own  love,  and  no  one  can  live  with  any  but  those 
who  are  in  a  similar  love ;  and  if  he  goes  among  others 
he  cannot  breathe  his  own  life.  Therefore  every  one 
after  death  enters  the  society  of  his  own  (who  are  those 
that  are  in  a  similar  love),  and  recognizes  them  as  rela- 
tives and  friends.  And  what  is  wonderful,  when  he 
meets  with  and  sees  them,  it  is  as  if  he  had  known  them 
from  infancy.  It  is  spiritual  affinity  and  friendship 
which  effect  this.  Nay,  more ;  no  one  in  a  society  can 
occupy  any  house  but  his  own.  Every  one  in  a  society 
has  his  own  house  which  he  finds  ready  prepared  for 
him  as  soon  as  he  enters  the  society.  He  may  be  in 
company  with  others  outside  of  his  house,  but  he  cannot 
abide  anywhere  but  in  his  own  house.  And  further 
yet ;  no  one  can,  in  a  room  belonging  to  another,  sit 
anywhere  but  in  his  own  place.  If  he  sits  elsewhere, 
he  loses  his  self-possession,  as  it  were,  and  becomes 
dumb  ;  and  what  is  wonderful,  every  one,  when  he  en- 
ters a  room,  knows  his  own  place.  The  same  takes 
place  in  temples,  and  also  when  they  congregate  in 
public  assemblies.  From  which  it  is  evident  that  the 
spiritual  state  is  altogether  different  from  the  natural, 
and  is  such  that  no  one  can  be  anywhere  but  where  his 
ruling  love  is;  for  there  is  the  delight  of  his  life,  and 
every  one  wishes  to  be  in  the  delight  of  his  life.  More- 
over, man's  spirit  cannot  be  elsewhere,  because  this  de- 
light constitutes  its  life,  nay,  its  very  respiration,  as  also 
the  beating  of  its  heart. 

In  the  natural  world  it  is  different.    Here  man's 
29* 


342 


THE  SWEDENBOEG  LIBRARY. 


external  is  from  infancy  thoroughly  taught  to  simulate 
in  feature,  word  and  gesture,  delights  other  than  those 
belonging  to  his  internal.  Therefore  from  man's  state 
in  the  natural  world  a  conclusion  cannot  be  formed  re- 
specting his  state  after  death.  For  every  one's  state 
after  death  is  a  spiritual  state,  which  is  such  that  he 
cannot  be  anywhere  but  in  the  delight  of  his  own  love, 
which  he  has  acquired  for  himself  by  life  in  the  natural 
world.  From  this  it  will  manifestly  appear  that  no  one 
can  be  introduced  into  tlie  delight  of  heaven  (which  is 
generally  called  heavenly  joy),  who  is  in  the  delight  of 
hell ;  or  what  is  the  same  thing,  no  one  who  is  in  the 
delight  of  evil  can  be  introduced  into  that  of  good ; 
which  may  be  still  more  certainly  inferred  from  the 
fact  that  no  one  is  forbidden  after  death  to  ascend  to 
heaven  ;  the  way  is  shown  him,  opportunity  is  given 
him,,  and  he  is  introduced  ;  but  when  he  [who  is  in  tlie 
delight  of  evil]  enters  heaven,  and  inhales  its  delight, 
he  begins  to  feel  a  sense  of  oppression  at  the  chest,  of 
torture  at  the  heart,  and  of  faintness,  under  which  he 
writhes  like  a  serpent  put  near  a  fire ;  and  with  his  face 
turned  away  from  heaven  and  toward  hell,  he  flees  pre- 
cipitately, nor  rests  until  he  reaches  the  society  belong- 
ing to  his  own  love. 

Evidently,  therefore,  no  one  can  go  to  heaven  out  of 
immediate  mercy ;  consequently  it  is  not  mere  admit- 
tance [that  is  required],  as  many  in  the  world  suppose. 
Nor  is  there  any  such  thing  as  instantaneous  salvation, 
since  this  supposes  immediate  mercy.  There  were  some 


IXFERXAL  DELIGHT  REMOVED.  Z\Z 


who  in  the  world  had  believed  in  instantaneous  salva- 
tion out  of  immediate  mercy  ;  and  when  they  became 
spirits  they  wished  that  their  infernal  delight,  or  the 
delight  of  evil,  should  be  transmuted  by  Divine  omnip- 
otence and  Divine  mercy  together  into  heavenly  de- 
light, or  the  delight  of  good;  and  because  they  were 
very  desirous  to  have  this  done,  angels  were  permitted 
to  do  it,  who  then  removed  their  infernal  delight.  But 
then  because  this  was  the  delight  of  their  life,  conse- 
quently their  life  itself,  they  fell  as  if  dead,  bereft  of 
every  sense  and  motion  ;  nor  was  it  possible  to  breathe 
any  life  into  them  but  their  own. — Wherefore  it  is  said 
in  heaven,  that  it  is  easier  to  change  an  owl  into  a  turtle- 
dove, or  a  serpent  into  a  lamb,  than  to  change  any  infer- 
nal spirit  into  an  angel  of  heaven. 

3d.  The  doctrines  of  the  churches  in  the  Christian 
world,  viewed  interiorly,  are  opposed  to  instantaneous  sal- 
vation Old  oj  immediate  mercy ;  hid  yet  the  external  men 
of  the  church  establish  it.  The  doctrines  of  all  churches, 
viewed  interiorly,  teach  life.  What  church  is  there,  the 
doctrine  of  which  does  not  teach  that  man  ought  to 
examine  himself,  to  see  and  acknowledge  his  sins,  lo 
confess  them,  to  repent,  and  finally  to  live  a  new  life? 
Who  is  admitted  to  the  holy  communion  without  this 
admonition  and  instruction?  Inquire,  and  you  will  be 
convinced.  What  church  is  there,  the  doctrine  of  which 
is  not  founded  upon  the  precepts  of  the  decalogue,  and 
these  are  precepts  of  life?  What  churchuiau  is  there, 
iu  whom  there  is  anything  of  the  church,  who  does  not 


344 


THE  SWEDENDOna  Linn  A II  Y. 


acknowledge,  as  soon  as  he  hears  it,  tliat  he  wlio  lives 
well  is  saved,  and  he  who  lives  wickedly  is  condemned  ? 
Therefore  in  the  Athanasian  Creed  (which  is  the  doc- 
trine received  in  the  whole  Christian  world),  it  is  stated, 
"That  the  Lord  will  come  to  judge  the  living  and  the 
dead ;  and  then  they  who  have  done  good  will  enter 
into  life  eternal,  and  they  who  have  done  evil  into 
eternal  fire." 

From  this  it  is  plain,  that  the  doctrines  of  all 
clinic  Ir's,  viewed  interiorly,  teach  life;  and  because 
tluy  tench  lile,  they  teach  that  salvation  is  according 
to  life ;  and  man's  life  is  not  breathed  into  him  in  a 
moment,  but  is  formed  gradually,  and  reformed  as  man 
shuns  evils  as  sins  ;  consequently  as  he  learns  what  sin 
is,  recognizes  and  acknowledges  it,  ceases  to  favor  it  in 
his  will,  and  consequently  desists  from  it;  also  as  he 
learns  those  means,  which  relate  to  a  knowledge  of 
God.  By  both  of  these  processes  man's  life  is  formed 
and  reformed,  and  they  cannot  be  wrought  out  in  a 
moment ;  for  hereditary  evil,  which  is  essentially  in- 
fernal, must  be  removed,  and  in  its  place  must  be  im- 
planted good,  which  is  essentially  heavenly.  From  his 
hereditary  evil  man  may  be  compared  in  understanding 
to  an  owl,  and  in  will  to  a  serpent ;  and  when  reformed 
he  may  be  compared  in  understanding  to  a  dove,  and  in 
will  to  a  sheep.  Therefore  instantaneous  reformation 
and  consequent  salvation  would  be  comparatively  like 
the  instantaneous  conversion  of  an  owl  into  a  dove, 
and  of  a  serpent  into  a  sheep.    Who  that  knows  any- 


MAN  FOREVER  PERFECTING. 


345 


thing  of  man's  life  does  not  see  that  this  is  impossible 
unless  the  nature  of  the  owl  and  serpent  is  removed, 
and  that  of  the  dove  and  sheep  implanted  in  their 
stead. 

It  is  also  known  that  every  intelligent  man  may  be- 
come more  intelligent,  and  every  wise  man  wiser ;  and 
that  intelligence  and  wisdom  may  increase  in  man,  and 
with  some  who  do  increase  from  infancy  until  the  end 
of  life,  and  that  man  is  thus  perfected  continually. 
Why  not  spiritual  intelligence  and  wisdom  still  more '? 
They  ascend  above  natural  intelligence  and  wisdom  by 
two  degrees,  and  then  they  become  angelic  intelligence 
and  wisdom,  which  are  ineffable.  That  they  increase 
forever  with  the  angels  is  shown  above.  Who  cannot 
comprelieud,  if  he  will,  that  it  is  impossible  for  that 
which  is  perfecting  to  eternity  to  become  perfect  in  an 
instant  ? 

From  the  foregoing  it  is  now  evident,  that  all  who 
think  of  salvation  from  life,  think  of  no  instantaneous 
salvation  by  immediate  mercy,  but  of  the  means  of 
salvation,  in  which  and  through  which  the  Lord  ojjer- 
ates  according  to  the  laws  of  his  Divine  Providence, 
thus  through  which  man  is  led  by  the  Lord  out  of  pure 
mercy.  But  they  who  do  not  think  of  salvation  froni 
liie,  think  that  salvation  is  instantaneous  and  mercy 
immediate,  as  they  do  who  sejiarate  faith  from  charity. 
Charity  is  life.  They  also  think  that  faith  may  be 
communicated  instantaneously,  even  at  the  hour  of 
death,  if  not  before.   And  they  also  do  this  who  believe 


346 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


that  the  remission  of  sins  without  repentance  is  absolu- 
tion from  sin,  and  thus  salvation,  and  approach  the  Holy 
Supper ;  also  they  who  believe  in  the  indulgences  of  the 
monks,  in  their  prayers  for  the  dead,  and  in  their  dis- 
pensations given  from  the  power  they  have  usurped 
over  men's  souls. 

IV. —  Listantaneous  salvation  out  of  immediate  merey 
is  the  fiei~y  flying  serpent  in  the  church.  By  the  fiery  flying 
serpent  is  meant  evil  gleaming  with  infernal  fire,  the 
same  as  by  the  fiery  flying  serpeut  in  Isaiah  xiv.  29. 
"  For  out  o^  the  serpent's  root  shall  come  forth  a  cock- 
atrice, and  his  fruit  shall  be  a  fiery  flying  serpeut."  Such 
evil  flies  abroad  in  the  church,  when  instantaneous  salva- 
tion out  of  immediate  mercy  is  believed  in  ;  for  thereby 

1st.  Religion  is  abolished.  There  are  two  essential 
and  at  the  same  time  universal  principles  of  religion, 
an  Acknowledgment  of  God  and  Repentance.  These 
two  principles  are  void  of  meaning  to  those  who  believe 
men  are  saved  out  of  mere  mercy,  no  matter  how  they 
live.  For  what  need  is  there  more  than  to  say:  "God 
have  mercy  on  me"?  As  for  all  else  pertaining  to 
religion,  they  are  in  darkness,  and  even  love  the  dark- 
ness. Of  the  first  essential  of  the  church,  which  is  an 
acknowledgment  of  God,  they  merely  think,  What  is 
God  ?  Who  has  ever  seen  Him  ?  If  God  is  said  to  be 
One,  they  say  He  is  One ;  if  there  are  said  to  be  three,  they 
say  there  are  three,  but  that  they  ought  to  be  called  one. 
This  with  them  is  the  acknowledgment  of  God.  About 
the  second  essential  of  the  church,  which  is  repentance, 


WHAT  FALSE  SECUlilTY  INDUCES. 


347 


they  do  not  think  at  all,  nor  consequently  of  any  sin  ; 
and  at  length  they  do  not  even  know  that  there  is  such 
a  thing  as  sin.  And  then  they  hear  and  drink  it  in 
with  great  satisfaction,  that  the  law  does  not  damn 
them,  because  a  Christian  is  not  under  the  yoke  of  the 
law  ;  if  you  but  say,  God  have  mercy  on  me  for  the 
sake  of  thy  Sou,  you  will  be  saved.  This  with  them  is 
the  repentance  of  life.  But  take  away  repentance,  or, 
what  is  the  same  thing,  separate  life  from  religion,  and 
what  remains  but  the  formula:  Have  mercy  on  me?  — 
2d.  A  belief  in  instantaneous  salvation  otd  of  pure 
mercy  only  induces  security  of  life.  Security  of  life 
arises  either  from  the  impious  man's  belief  that  there 
is  no  life  after  death,  or  from  the  belief  of  him  who 
separates  life  from  salvation.  The  latter,  although  he 
should  believe  that  life  is  eternal,  still  thinks,  whether 
I  live  well  or  ill, I  maybe  saved, since  salvation  is  pure 
mercy,  and  God's  mercy  is  universal,  because  He  desires 
not  the  death  of  any.  And  if  perchance  the  thought 
should  occur  to  him,  that  mercy  ought  to  be  implored 
in  the  words  of  the  accepted  faith,  he  may  think  that 
this  can  be  done  just  before  death,  if  not  sooner.  Every 
man  who  is  in  such  a  state  of  security  thinks  nothing 
of  adultery,  fraud,  injustice,  violence,  blasphemy  and 
revenge;  but  lets  his  flesh  and  his  spirit  run  riot  in 
them  all;  nor  does  he  know  what  spiritual  evil  and  its 
lust  are. — 

3d.  By  that  belief  damnation  is  attributed  to  the  Lord. 
Who  can  avoid  the  conclusion  that  not  man  but  the 


C-18 


THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY. 


Lord  is  to  blame  if  man  is  not  saved,  since  He  can  from 
pure  mercy  save  everyone?  It  may  be  said  tliat  the 
means  of  salvation  is  faith  ;  but  what  man  is  there  who 
may  not  be  gifted  with  that  faith,  for  it  is  merely 
thought,  which  may  be  imparted  to  man  in  any  condi- 
tion of  spirit,  even  with  confidence,  when  he  is  with- 
drawn from  worldly  matters;  and  he  may  even  say,  I 
cannot  acquire  that  faith  of  myself.  If  therefore  this 
faith  is  not  given  to  a  man,  and  he  is  damned,  what 
can  he  think  but  that  the  Lord,  who  could  have  saved 
liiin  and  would  not,  is  to  blame?  Would  not  this  be  to 
call  Him  unmerciful  ?  And  moreover,  in  the  glow  of 
his  faith  he  may  say  :  How  can  God  see  so  many  damned 
in  hell,  when  He  is  able  to  save  them  all  in  a  moment 
out  of  pure  mercy  ?  And  he  may  say  many  similar 
things,  which  must  simply  be  called  impious  accusa- 
tions of  the  Divine. 

From  this  then  it  may  be  seen  that  a  belief  in  instan- 
taneous salvation  out  of  pure  mercy,  is  the  fiery  flying 
serpent  in  the  church.    (D.  P.,  u.  331-340.) 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  E.  CLAXTON  &  CO. 


"The  Swedenborg  Library; 


The  increasing  interest  in  the  writings  of  Emanuel  Swedenboeg, 
coupled  with  a  growing  demand  for  the  substance  of  his  teachings  in  a 
concise  form,  induced  the  "Swedenborg  Publishing  Association"  of 
Philadelphia  to  undertake  the  preparation  of  a  series  of  works  under 
the  above  title,  the  general  plan  and  purpose  of  which,  as  stated  in  the 
Editor's  Preface  to  Volume  I.,  are  as  follows  :— 

"  These  volumes  will  consist  of  extracts  from  the  theological  writings 
of  the  Swedish  seer,  so  arranged  as  to  make  each  volume  complete  in 
itself,  and  to  give  the  reader  a  clear  idea  of  the  author's  views  and 
teachings  on  the  various  subjects  treated. 

"  The  purpose  of  the  proposed  series  is,  to  meet  a  growing  popular 
want,  by  presenting  in  a  neat,  compact,  and  inexpensive  form,  such  por- 
tions of  the  teachings  of  this  enlightened  author  as  seem  best  suited  to 
the  general  reader.  It  is  believed  that  the  essential  features  and  vital 
portions  of  the  New  Theology  can  be  compressed  within  the  compass 
of  ten  or  twelve  small  volumes." 

The  volumes  average  about  250  pages,  12mo.  Their  titles  are  : — 
Vol.  1.  Death,  Eestjkkection,  and  the  Judgment. 

2.  Heaven. 

3.  Freedom,  Eationality,  and  Catholicity. 

4.  Divine  Providence  and  its  Laws. 
6.  Charity,  Faith,  and  Works. 

6.  Free- Will,  Repentance,  Reformation,  and  Regenera- 

tion. 

7.  Holy  Scripture  and  the  Key  to  its  Spiritual  Sense. 

8.  Creation,  Incarnation,  Redemption,  and  the  Divine 

Trinity. 

9.  Marriage  and  the  Sexes  in  both  Worlds. 

10.  The  Author's  Memorabilia. 

11.  The  Heavenly  Doctrine  of  the  Lord. 

12.  Swedenborg:  with  a  Compend  of  his  Teachings. 


Sent  (post-paid)  to  any  address  on  receipt  of  price  (50  cts.  a  volume 
—  except  Vol.  12,  which  is  75  cts.). 


"THE  SjrEDJSffBOItG  niiRAItT." 


Advantages  of  the  "  Swedenborg  Library." 

The  following  are  some  of  the  distinguishing  merits  and  obvious  ad- 
vantages of  this  series : — 

1st.  It  gives  the  substance  of  Swedenborg's  teachings  in  a  compact 
foiin,  and  in  his  own  words  (translated  into  good  English),  with  refer- 
ences to  the  particular  works  whence  the  extracts  are  taken. 

2d.  It  classifies  the  subjects  in  a  way  to  render  it  easy  for  the  reader 
to  find  whatever  spiritual  instruction  he  may  be  seeking. 

3d.  It  does  not  interfere  with,  but  helps  all  enterprises  which  aim  to 
disseminate  the  highest  truths,  and  to  promote  the  extension  and  growth 
of  the  Lord's  Church  on  earth. 

4th.  The  volumes  are  of  such  a  convenient  size,  that  one  of  them  may 
be  easily  carried  in  the  coat-pocket. 

5tli.  Any  volume  of  the  series  makes  a  cheap  yet  beautiful  gift-book 
to  a  friend,  or  to  any  seeker  after  the  highest  truths. 

()th.  Each  vohiiue  being  complete  in  itself,  may  be  purchased  sepa- 
rately when  so  desired. 

7lh.  The  work  is  gotten  up  in  an  exceedingly  neat,  tasteful,  and  at- 
tractive style,  and  the  12  volumes  make  a  very  beautiful  as  well  as  val- 
uable addition  to  any  library. 

8th.  Last,  but  not  least  of  its  recommendations,  is  its  remarkable 
cheapness,  —  hving  offered  at  50  cts.  a  volume,  which  is  just  half  the 
price  of  other  works  jjublished  in  similar  style. 

Opinions  of  Competent  Judges. 

The  following  are  the  opinions  of  fourteen  intelligent  New  Church 
ministers  in  regard  to  the  "  Swedenborg  Library,"  freely  expressed  in  let- 
ters to  the  Editor.  The  first  eight  are  from  letters  received  soon  after  the 
enterprise  was  started.    The  last  six,  since  half  the  series  was  published. 

"  The  Swedenborg  Library  plan  excites  the  universal  admiration 
and  commendation  of  those  whose  attention  I  have  called  to  it." 

"  Exactly  what  it  ought  to  be,  beautiful,  attractive,  and  not  too  large. 
Such  books  are  read.  I  regard  this  enterprise  as  the  best  yet  started  to 
promulgate  the  heavenly  doctrines." 

"  This  seems  to  me  just  what  we  need  ;  I  am  delighted  with  it." 

"  I  think  the  idea  is  a  very  happy  one;  I  have  shown  the  book  to 
several  of  our  people,  and  all  give  it  unqualified  praise." 

"  T  like  the  project  very  much  ;  .  .  .  I  feel  sure  you  will  be  gratified 
with  the  reception  which  the  SWEDENBORG  Library  will  meet." 

"  As  to  the  Swedenborg  Library  plan,  I  approve  of  it  thoroughly. 
It  ia  in  the  direct  line  of  the  mission  we  have  to  accomjilLsh." 

2 


PVBZICATION8  OF  E.  CLAXTOX  &  CO. 


"  Splendid !  Just  the  thing  that  is  needed  by  a  large  class  of  readers, 
even  in  our  so-called  New  Church  Societies." 

"  You  are  doing  just  now,  in  my  estimation,  the  greatest  work  of  your 
life;  and  my  lieart's  wish  is  that  every  member  of  the  Church  may 
encourage  you  in  it." 

"  I  have  received  and  read  several  volumes  of  the  'Swedenborg  Li- 
brary' with  great  interest,  because  I  found  in  them  the  best  missionary 
books  that  I  have  ever  read.  1  wish  I  could  have  as  many  as  I  could 
profitably  use  in  my  work  as  missionary.  They  are  just  the  thing  that 
the  world  needs,— iSTew  Church  doctrine  in  Swedenborg's  own  words 
(translated  into  plain  English)." 

"  I  am  glad  to  learn  that  you  are  pushing  the  '  Swedenborg  Library' 
to  completion.  We  shall  have  all  the  more  courage  to  work  for  it.  It 
is  just  the  thing  for  our  work.  ...  I  like  it  very  much,  and  believe 
you  are  doing  a  good  service." 

"  The  'Swedenborg  Library'  supplies  the  want  I  have  felt  for  some 
time,  and  proves  very  acceptable  and  convincing  reading  to  beginners. 
Tlie  size  and  beauty  of  the  volume  make  it  a  very  acceptable  present  to 
a  friend,  and  one  that  is  apt  to  be  read." 

"  I  have  all  along  had  a  favorable  impression  of  this  work.  It  helps, 
I  think,  to  supply  a  want  we  have  long  felt,  of  some  abridgment  of 
Swedenborg's  great  system.  .  .  .  The  style  and  price  of  these  volumes 
will  attract  the  general  reader.  They  "are  convenient,  too,  for  family 
and  social  reading,  and  form  admirable  text-books  for  adult  classes,  and 
elder  classes  in  Sabbath  Schools;  and  it  is  my  intention  to  make  this 
use  of  them." 

"  I  think  you  are  engaged  in  a  noble  work  in  bringing  out  the  sub- 
stance of  Swedenborg's  teachings  in  such  an  attractive  and  inexpensive 
form  as  the  '  Swedenborg  Library.'  .  .  .  Enclosed  you  will  find  five 
dollars  for  the  entire  series." 

"  The  publication  of  the  '  Swedenborg  Library'  meets  my  heartiest 
approval.  It  was  a  well-conceived  idea,  and  has  been  carried  out  in 
great  good  taste.  I  am  satisfied  that  it  will  prove  eminently  useful  in 
disseminating  New  Church  truth." 

The  following  is  from  an  esteemed  Doctor  of  Divinity  belonging  to 
the  "  Evangelical  "  school,  but  a  subscriber  to  the  "  Swedenborg  Li- 
brary :  " — 

"I  have  been  greatly  delighted  with  the  'Swedenborg  Library.' 
Although  I  have  most  of  the  works  [of  Swedenborg],  including  the 
'Arcana  Coelestia,'  it  seems  to  be  quite  a  help  to  me.  I  get  the  cream 
of  the  writings  arranged  and  condensed  in  a  manner  that  enables  me 


"THE  SWEDEXBORii  ZIBRART." 


more  easily  to  grasp  the  different  subjects.  The  translation  is  more 
clear  and  perspicuous  than  that  of  most  of  the  original  books.  For 
beginners  in  the  study  of  the  doctrines,  I  should  think  it  would  be 
quite  an  advantage  to  be  saved  what  must  appear  a  frequent  repetition 
of  the  same  thing." 

The  following  extracts  are  from  the  letters  of  intelligent  laymen  in 
the  New  Church,  and  they  agree  well  with  the  foregoing : — 

"  In  getting  out  the  '  Swedenborg  Library  '  as  you  have,  I  think  you 
have  struck  the  right  path.  1  hear  it  commended  on  all  sides,  and  its 
circulation  will  be  very  great,  I  have  no  doubt." 

"  Your  circular  relating  to  the  'Swedenborg  Library'  was  received 
some  days  ago.  .  .  .  Please  find  five  dollars  (P.  O.  order)  enclosed  for 
the  whole  set.  In  my  opinion  you  are  compiling  a  very  useful  work 
for  the  New  Church  at  large." 

"  Let  me,  as  a  member  of  the  great  New  Church  body,  thank  you  for 
the  work  you  are  doing  by  the  publication  of  your  serial  books.  The 
plan  is  most  ingeniously  conceived,  and  its  execution  wonderfully  per- 
formed. I  cannot  think  of  a  more  proper  form  and  manner  of  intro- 
ducing the  works  and  truths  of  the  Church  to  the  great  world  of  readers 
and  inquirers,  than  that  which  you  have  hit  upon." 

"  Night  before  last  I  had  the  first  opportunity  to  look  at  the  volumes 
which  you  have  kindly  sent  me,  and  I  have  been  more  pleased  and 
interested  than  I  can  well  express  to  you.  It  is  certainly  a  work  of 
great  value  and  importance.  ...  It  appears  to  me  that  the  work  of 
reducing  his  [Swedenborg's]  diffuse  and  repeated  style  is  done  with 
great  skill,  and  yet  without  in  the  slightest  degree  varying  the  spirit 
and  genius  of  his  style.    I  enclose  to  you  my  check  for  $105." 

"  I  am  very  much  pleased  with  the  last  volume  of  the  '  Swedenborg 
Library  '  [Vol.  VII.].  I  think  you  have  done  a  noble  work  ;  and  if  you 
should  do  nothing  more  in  this  life,  that  alone  would  be  an  enduring 
monument  of  your  faithfulness  as  well  as  usefulness." 

"  Grateful  for  an  opportunity  to  procure  so  beautiful  and  convenient 
a  series  of  New  Church  works.  ...  I  have  always  been  profited  by 
your  labors,  and  from  you  I  have  received  the  most  valuable  and 
impressive  instruction  in  the  doctrines,  and  their  spirit  and  life ;  and  it 
affords  me  great  pleasure  to  make  this  acknowledgment,  and  to  sub- 
scribe for  the  entire  series  of  the  '  Swedenborg  Library.'  " 

"  I  like  the  compilation  very  much,  and  so  do  Mr.  and  Mr.  , 

who  have  become  acquainted  with  it.  .  .  .  Dr.  ,  of  our  society,  re- 
marked that  this  compilation  was  much  needed  for  people  who  had  not 
the  time  to  read  Swedenborg's  works  unabridged,  but  wanted  something 
nearer  the  source  than  the  collateral  works." 

4 


JPTTBLICATIOyS  OF  E.  CLAXTOX  &  CO. 


"  I  am  very  glad  to  learn  that  the  demand  for  the  '  Swedenborg 
Library  '  still  "increases.  I  feel  sure  it  will  be  the  means  of  brinfring 
spiritual  quickening,  light  and  support  to  many  a  waiting  and  watching 
soul." 

"  The  plan  you  have  adopted  of  presenting  Swedenborg  to  the  Amer- 
ican public  in  this  neat  and  attractive  form,  strikes  me.as  admirable. 
It  possesses  advantages  over  every  other  method  thus  far  adopted." 

Opinions  of  the  Press. 

"  Swedenborgians  are  endeavoring  to  bring  Swedenborg's  voluminous 
writings  within  the  scope  of  popular  comprehension ;  and  among  the 
means  to  this  end  that  have  come  to  our  notice,  the  '  Swedenborg  Li- 
brary '  is  the  best  adapted  to  the  purpose." — Philadelphia  Inquirer. 

"  It  is  one  of  the  most  useful  works  which  has  lately  shown  itself  in 
the  Church.    For  this  reason  we  recommend  it  with  our  irhole  heart. 

.  .  .  The  choice  of  extracts  is  exquisite,  admirable,  and  of  the  greatest 
importance  and  use  even  to  well  instructed  members  of  the  New 
Church." — Bote  dcr  Neuen  Kirche — Edited  by  Kev.  A.  O.  Brickman. 

"  We  rejoice  at  the  presentation  of  Swedenborg's  ideas  in  this  pop- 
ular form,  where  they  will  doubtless  reach  many  new  readers.  For, 
with  all  its  fancifulness,  Swedenborgianism  can  hardly  help  doing  a  good 
work  in  leavening  and  vastly  improving  the  lump  of  religious  doctrine." 
— Liberal  Ohriatian. 

"  The  work  is  interesting,  not  only  to  churchmen,  but  to  all  who  desire 
to  be  well  informed  on  the  religions  of  the  day." — Kokomo  Dispatch. 

"With  the  issue  of  this  pretty  volume  [VIIL],  the  'Swedenborg 
Library  '  is  two-thirds  complete.  The  extracts  from  Swedenborg  are 
grouped  in  this,  as  in  the  previous  volumes,  with  great  care;  and, 
although  it  may  seem  impossible  that  these  great  subjects  can  be  ad- 
equately treatecl  in  so  small  a  volume,  a  perusal  will  show  that  the 
essential  doctrine  is  all  here.  Managers  of  New  Church  libraries  will 
find  the  volumes  of  this  series  especially  useful  to  persons  just  becoming 
interested." — A'ew  Jenianlem  Magazine. 

"  Here  is  a  little  book  [Vol.  VII.,  S.  Library]  within  the  reach  of  all, 
that  will  enable  every  earnest  inquirer  to  see  something  of  the  light  and 
love  which  God  wants  all  to  have  and  live." — Munnt  Juy  Herald. 

"  Swedenborg's  writings  wield  a  constantly  growing  power.  .  .  .  Men 
of  little  leisure  have  reason  to  be  thankful  to  Mr.  Barrett  for  the  work 
he  has  done  and  the  labor  he  has  saved  them.  .  .  .  We  can  heartily 
commend  this  little  book  to  any  who  may  desire  a  generaAnotion  of 
the  theological  views  of  one  of  the  most  remarkable  m^BEitet  ever 
lived." — Cincinnati  Times. 

5 


"TBE  SWJSDEAJiOJiG  T.IJiRART." 


"There  have  been  plenty  of  seers  who  claimed  to  have  heavenly 
visions,  but  none  who  describe  what  they  saw  with  such  realism  and 
apparent  truthfulness  as  Swedenborg.  If  what  he  relates  [about 
Heaven]  is  a  coinage  of  the  brain,  then  he  is  the  greatest  master  of 
tiction  among  modern  writers." — Sun  Francisco  Bulletin. 

"  One  cannot>  read  much  in  this  or  any  other  volume  from  the  au- 
thor's pen,  without  realizing  that  Swedenborg  was  spiritually-minded, 
pure,  and  philosophical.  .  .  .  When  studied  for  the  sake  of'his  spirit 
only,  he  must  improve  in  the  esteem  of  all  good  men.  The  abrid;4^ed 
edition  of  his  works  is  very  attractive  in  form,  and  is  full  enough  to 
convey  the  author's  meaning." — The  Chrintian  Union. 

"  Mr.  Barrett  is  excellently  well  qualified  for  this  labor.  Whether 
the  doctrine  is  accepted  or  rejected,  the  book  is  valuable.  The  New 
Church  is  growing  and  influential;  and  this  popularization  of  its  creed 
will  be  of  value  to  some  aud  interest  to  all." — I'hiludu.  Aorth  American. 

"  If  one  desires  to  have  a  succinct,  clear,  and  adequate  idea  of  the 
teachings  of  the  New  Church,  here  in  these  handsome  and  portable 
volumes,  in  a  cheap  form,  he  can  obtain  it." — Ziun'n  Herald. 

"The  editor  has  done  a  real  service,  not  only  to  those  of  his  own 
special  faith,  but  for  thoughtful  Christians  in  all  denominations.  Very 
few  would  care  to  read  all  of  Swedenborg's  writings,  some  of  which  are 
excessively  prolix  and  repetitious ;  but,  beyond  question,  he  was  a  great 
seer  of  Divine  things  as  revealed  in  God's  Word,  and  such  selections  as 
are  contained  in  this  neat  and  choice  little  volume,  are  spiritually  edi- 
fying aud  abundantly  suggestive."— CAtcojro  Advance. 

"  The  chief  value  of  this  latest  and  best  edition  of  the  writings  of 
the  Swedish  theologian,  consists  in  the  fact  that  it  is  a  winnowing  of 
the  wheat  from  the  chaff  by  one  who,  while  loyal  to  all  that  is  best  in 
his  leader,  is  also  a  singularly  broad-minded  and  sweet-hearted  Chris- 
tian of  our  own  time.  .  .  .  Life  is  too  short  to  enable  us  to  read  Sweden- 
borg in  extenso  ;  .  .  .  But  gleaned  from  the  wide  expanse  of  the  Sweden- 
borg literature  by  a  man  of  rare  talent  for  his  work,  the  salient  teachings 
of  Swedenborg  appear  to  their  best  possible  advantage  in  this  edition 
of  his  writings,  mixed  with  little  that  can  ofiend." — Jlinneapolls  Tribune. 

"  As  a  whole,  we  think  this  [Vol.  VI.]  an  excellent  continuation  of 
an  excellent  series  of  New  Church  publications." — New  Jerumlem 
Messenijer, 

"  This  series  of  volumes  contains  a  well-chosen  and  arranged  selection 
of  chapters  and  passages  from  the  voluminous  writings  of  Swedenborg 
upon  special  subjects.  .  .  .  All  that  he  taught  may  not  conform  to  our 
present  views,  yet  there  is  much  that  will — and  a  great  deal  to  confirm 
.  the  truth  of  receut  conclusions  respecting  the  world  of  the  unseen.  ' — 
Banner  of  Liijhl. 


TJJBZICATIONS  OF  E.  CLAXTOIT  £  CO. 


"  We  very  cordially  commend  the  volume  [IX.  '  Marriage  and  the 
Sexes']  to  all  who  desire,  either  for  themselves  or  for  others,  a  compact 
and  yet  comprehensive  presentation  of  the  subject." — A'ew  Jerusalem 
Messenger. 

"Volume  VI.  of  this  handy  little  librarj'  contains  selections  from 
Swedenborg  on  the  subjects  of  Free  Will,  Repentance,  Reformation,  and 
Re.^eneration.  Perhaps  Swedenborg's  most  valuable  contribution  to 
Christian  thought  consists  in  what  he  said  and  wrote  on  the  last  three 
of  these  topics ;  and  the  book  is  well  worth  reading  by  spiritual 
teachers." — Christian  Union. 

"  On  no  theme  did  the  Swedish  seer  delight  more  to  dwell  than  that 
which  is  treated  in  this  little  book  (Vol.  V.].  And  Mr.  Barrett  expresses 
the  conviction  that '  in  all  the  theological  libraries  of  Christendom,  there 
cannot  be  found,  within  the  same  compass,  half  as  much  wholesome 
teaching,  or  high  and  heavenly  wisdom  on  these  interesting  and  momen- 
tous themes,  as  these  224  small  pages  contain.'  .  .  .  And  it  is  an  exceed- 
ingly good  book." — Chicago  Advance. 

"  This  edition  is  an  excellent  condensation  of  the  pith  and  substance 
of  Swedenborg's  teachings  and  revelations.  Whoever  desires  to  know  the 
fundamental  views  of  his  church,  will  find  them  here." — Zion's  Herald. 

"  The  series  is  every  way  admirable,  and  cannot  fail  to  be  welcomed 
by  the  religiously  inclined,  as  well  as  by  the  immediate  followers  of  the 
doctrines  taught  by  the  great  Swedish  philosopher." — Chicago  Jonnial. 

"  We  think  that  any  one  who  will  Take  this  little  book  [Vol.  IV.]  and 
read  it  ....  as  a  collection  of  valuable  hints  throwing  light  on  some 
questions  that  perplex  thoughtful  souls,  and  have  perple.'sed  them  ever 
since  the  days  of  Job,  will  find  it  much  more  helpful  than  some  larger 
and  more  pretentious  treatises." — Ckriistian  Union. 

"  Its  mechanical  get-up  is  faultless  ;  and  we  cannot  see  how  the  matter 
could  have  been  more  judiciously  collated  for  such  a  work.  All  credit 
is  due  our  brother,  B.  h\  Barrett,  for  the  conception  and  development 
of  this  enterprise,  by  whom  the  little  volumes  are  edited." — A'eio  Church 
Independen  t. 

"  We  have  here  '  a  complete  view  of  what  the  New  Theology  teaches 
concerning  Charity,  Faith,  and  Works '—living  virtues  whose  union  in 
man  makes  his  life  an  image  of  the  Divine  Trinity.  We  believe  no  man 
living  is  more  familiar  than  Mr.  Barrett  with  the  great  Swede's  writings ; 
and  in  the  neat  volumes  of  this  series  he  aims  to  present  his  teachings 
in  his  [Swedenborg's]  own  language,  but  so  classified  as  to  exhibit  the 
author's  complete  view  of  each  leading  doctrine  of  religion." — Christian 
liegistcr. 

"  It  cannot  be  denied  that  certain  truths  as  to  the  right  interpretation 
of  God's  Word  were  brought  to  light  [by  Swedenborg]  which  it  is  of 
exceeding  importance  that  the  churches  should  more  distinctly  recog- 
nize."—  Chicago  Advance. 


"THE  swEDENnona  T.mitAnT." 


A  Letter— after  Reading  Vol.  IX. 

The  following  letter  is  from  an  intelligent  gentleman  who 
has  been  for  several  years  employed  as  a  New  Church  Mis- 
sionary in  Tennessee,  and  doing  very  acceptable  work  in  that 
field.  It  was  written  shortly  after  he  had  received  and  read 
Vol.  IX.,  which  treats  of  "  Marriage  and  the  Sexes  in  both 
"Worlds,"  and  is  published  with  the  author's  permission. 

"  McMiNNViLLE,  Tenn.,  May  26th,  1881. 

"Eev.  B.  F.  Baerett. 

"  My  Dear  Brother  :— I  have  read  with  unusual  interest  the  9th 
volume  of  the  '  Swedenborg  Library,'  which,  in  some  respects,  is  the 
crown  of  all  the  rest. 

"  Swedenborg's  teachings  on  the  subject  whereof  it  treats  are  entirely 
new.  There  is  nothing  approaching  them  in  the  writings  of  the  Old 
Church.  His  'Conjugial  Love'  has  been  the  target  of  slander,  abuse, 
and  misrepresentation  by  Pike,  Pond,  and  others.  I  have  often  won- 
dered that  something  more  has  not  been  done  by  the  New  Church  to 
vindicate  his  writings  from  the  filthy  vituperations  of  these  authors. 

"  The  only  serious  opposition  that  I  have  ever  had  in  my  missionary 
work,  liad  its  origin  in  the  clandestine  circulation  of  garbled  extracts 
from  '  Conjugial  Love '  by  a  Baptist  preacher.  I  know  of  no  better 
way  to  counteract  such  influence  than  by  a  free  circulation  of  E.  S.'s 
own  teachings  on  these  subjects,  or  «ueA  extracts  from  his  writings  as 
shall  give  the  pith  and  marrow  of  his  teachings.  This  is  most  admira- 
bly done  in  Vol.  IX.  of  the  '  Swedenborg  Library.' 

"  The  series  of  works  you  are  publishing  under  this  general  title  has, 
in  my  judgment,  no  equal  for  giving  to  the  masses  the  grand  truths  of 
the  iJew  Age.  The  volumes,  so  far  as  they  have  been  published,  contain 
the  very  essence  of  the  great  seer's  teachings,  every  sentence  ponderous 
with  glorious  truth  adapted  to  the  comprehension  of  all.  Surely  the 
happy  thought  that  gave  these  little  books  to  the  world  had  its  origin 
in  the  celestial  heavens. 

"Rest  assured,  the  Lord,  with  his  holy  angels  —  among  whom  may 
be  Swedenborg  himself — will  carry  on  this  work  to  a  success  far  beyond 
your  most  sanguine  expectation.  What  a  rich,  priceless,  blessed  priv- 
ilege to  cooperate  with  them  in  this  glorious  work  ! 

"  Very  truly  yours, 

J.  P.  Smith." 


^S^For  Special  Terms— which  may  sometimes  be  made  to  min- 
isters and  theological  students  —  or  for  any  special  information  respect- 
ing this  work,  address  "Swedenborg  Publishing  Association," 
930  Market  Street,  Philadelphia,  or  its  President,  B.  F.  Barrett,  Gei- 
mantown,  Pa. 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  E.  CLAXTON  &  CO. 


Lectures  on  the  New  Dispensation,  signified  by  the 
New  Jerusalem  of  the  Apocalypse.  By  B.  F.  Barrett. 
12mo.    Extra  cloth,  pp.  328.    60  cts. 

Tlie  design  of  this  volume  is  to  unfold  and  elucidate  the  leading 
doctrines  tauglit  by  Emanuel  Swedenborg.  And  it  is  considered  one 
of  the  best  works  for  this  purpose  ever  published.  The  London  In- 
tellectual Repository  calls  it  "an  admirable  work  for  making  one 
ac(iuainted  with  the  doctrines  of  the  New  Church  [as  taught  by 
Swedenborg]."   


The  Golden  City.    By  B.  F.  Barrett.    12mo,  pp.  253. 
Extra  cloth,  60  cts. 

"  The  work  will  commend  itself  to  liberal  minds  of  every  denomi- 
nation—  for  its  spirit  is  catholic,  its  views  comprehensive,  and  its 
temper  sweet."  —  Boston  Daily  Advertiser. 

"  According  to  Dr.  Barrett,  the  true  New  Jerusalem,  which  is 
...  a  life  of  love  and  obedience,  is  steadily  descending  to  the  earth. 
It  is  found  in  all  churches  and  outside  of  them  all.  It  is  shown  in 
a  new  spirit  of  toleration  and  philanthropy,  a  perpetual  breaking 
away  from  the  bondage  of  the  letter  to  the  love  and  r-ervice  of  the 
spirit,  and  a  growing  disposition  towards  a  real  union  of  all  true 
souls  on  spiritual  and  practical  ground." — New  York  Daily  Graphic. 

"The  most  important  book  concerning  the  New  Church  which 
has  been  written  for  years.  Its  extensive  circulation  in  and  out  of 
the  external  organization  of  the  New  Church  would  do  very  great 
good."  — Boston  New  Church  Magazine. 

"Mr.  Barrett  writes  with  great  earnestness  and  with  an  evident 
familiarity  with  Swedenborg's  writings,  and  .  .  .  sets  forth  in  brief 
space  and  with  much  clearness  some  much  misunderstood  facts  with  re- 
gard to  the  opinions  of  the  Swedish  seer." — Phila.  Evenimj  Telegraph, 

"The  work  is  from  the  real  New  Church  stand-point,  able  in  exe- 
cution and  catholic  in  spirit."  —  The  Living  Way. 

"This  treatise  is  thoroughly  liberal,  and  will  undoubtedly  con- 
tribute to  popularizing  and  expanding  a  form  of  faith  that  has  grown 
quietly  without  such  a  valuable  help."  —  The  North  American  and 
United  Slates  Gazette. 

"  The  volume  is  pervaded  by  a  large,  free,  and  truly  catholic  spirit, 
which  is  likely  to  render  it  acceptable  to  all  who  are  striving  for  unity 
without  uniformity  among  Christian  believers." — Boston  Evening 
Transcript 

9 


PUBIiIOATIONS  OF  E.  CLAXTON  &  CO. 

Letters  on  the  Future  Life.   By  B.  F.  Barrett.  12mo. 
Extra  cloth,  pp.  191.    50  cts. 

"A  small  volume  with  a  great  deal  in  it."  —  The  Golden  Age. 

"Any  one  fond  of  such  speculation  will  read  this  lively  littk  book 
with  interest;  for  the  presentation  of  the  subject  is  animated  and 
earnest." — New  Haven  Palladium. 

"No  one  of  the  many  works  in  the  same  vein  —  some  of  which 
that  are  singularly  able  and  lucid,  have  been  prepared  by  Mr.  Bar- 
rett—  have  more  earnestness,  practically  applied,  than  this." — Phila^ 
delphia  North  American. 

"  A  grand  and  impressive  staterjent  of  the  New  Church  doctrine 
of  the  Future  Life,  eminently  calculated  to  enlighten  and  interest 
the  general  reader."  —  New  Chitrch  Independent. 


Letters  on  the  Divine  Trinity.    By  B.  F.  Barrett. 
New  and  enlarged  edition.    12mo,    Extra  cloth,  50  cts. 

A  trenchant  but  friendly  criticism  of  the  popular  doctrine  of  three 
Divine  Persons  in  the  one  true  God  ;  and  presenting  with  great  clear- 
ness and  force  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  as  taught  bv  p^manuel 
Swedenborg,  together  with  the  Scriptural  and  rational  evidence  in 
its  support. 


The  New  View  of  Hell  ;  Showing  its  Nature,  Where- 
abouts, Duration,  and  How  to  escape  it.  By  B.  F.  Bar- 
rett.   12nio.    Extra  cloth,  pp.  215.    50  cts. 

"A  succinct  and  intelligible  statement  of  Swedenborg's  doctrine 
of  retribution.  It  contains  .  .  .  much  that  is  profoundly  true,  and 
much  that  is  exceedingly  suggestive."  —  New  York  Independent. 

"A  really  valuable  contribution  to  the  world's  stock  of  religious 
ideas.  .  .  .  And  we  commend  it  to  our  readers  as  worthy  of  attentive 
perusal."  —  Netv  York  San. 

"There  is  not  a  Christian  man  or  woman  in  the  world,  who  would 
not  be  benefited  by  the  reading  of  this  book." —  Wesljield  News-LcUer, 

"In  'The  New  View  of  Hell'  is  put  forth  one  of  the  most  striking 
and  pregnant  of  Swedenborg's  thoughts  —  that,  too,  whose  influei\ce 
on  orthodoxy  has  been  most  observable  —  his  conception  of  Hell  as 
a  state,  not  a  place ;  and  as  such,  the  chosen  home  of  all  who  go 
there."  —  New  York  Evening  Mail. 

10 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  E.  CLAXTON  &  CO, 


SwEDENBORG  AND  Channing.  Showing  the  many  and 
remarkable  agreements  in  the  teachings  and  beliefs  of  these 
writers.    By  B.  F.  Barrett.    Pp.  288.    12mo.    60  cts. 

"A  very  striking  panillclism  [between  Swedenborg  and  Channing]  is 
shown  on  essential  points  "  .  .  .  such  as,  "  repentance,  faith,  prayer,  sin, 
salvation,  the  atonement,  the  resurrection,  future  retribution,  the  nature 
of  heaven,  the  Holy  Spirit,  etc."— Pliiln.  North  American. 

"  Mr.  Barrett's  book  is  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  prevailing  religious 
controversy  growing  out  of  the  protest,  by  our  most  advanced  thinkers, 
against  the  narrow  and  gloomy  views  of  Calvinism." — Daili/  Grnpliic. 

"Mr.  Barrett  has  prepared  his  interesting  volume  in  the  spirit  of  pro- 
found reverence  for  Swedenborg,  and  of  afl'ectionate  admiration  of  Dr. 
Channing.  In  many  cases,  the  resemblances  which  he  sets  forth  are  of  a 
striking  character." — New  York  Tribune. 

"  The  book  cannot  fail  to  be  of  absorbing  interest  to  thousands  of  Chris- 
tian readers." — Aluuiit  Joy  Herald. 

"  Under  tifty-seven  different  titles,  it  shows  how  Swedenborg  and  Chan- 
ning agree  respecting  the  most  dominant  Christian  truths,  by  pertinent 
quotations  from  the  writings  of  both.  The  book  is  thus  made  very  read- 
able and  instructive." — Christian  Register. 

"  With  brief  introductions  for  each  chapter  by  the  author,  extracts  are 
given  to  show  the  essential  agreement  of  these  great  theologians.  .  .  .  Mr. 
B.  F.  Barrett  is  doing  more  to  popularize  the  writings  of  Swedenborg,  than 
all  the  writers  of  the  New  Church  that  have  gone  before  him." — Chicaijo 
Advance. 

"A  very  interesting  work."- — Pittsburg  Commercial  Gazette. 

"  The  spirit  of  the  work  is  excellent,  and  its  motive  commendable." 

—  Coxgregationii  I  ist. 

"It  will  be  a  matter  of  interest,  and  probably  of  surprise,  to  the  re- 
ceivers of  the  heavenly  doctrines,  to  find  in  the  writings  of  Br.  Channing 
80  many  and  such  important  points  of  coincidence  with  the  teachings  of 
Swedenborg,  as  are  presented  by  Mr.  Barrett  in  the  volume  above  named." 
—New  Jerusalem  Messenger. 

Rev.  Mr.  Doughty  (New  Church  minister  in  San  Francisco),  in  a  letter  to 
the  author,  says : 

"  I  am  more  than  pleased  with  the  book.  I  must  say  that  I  was  aston- 
ished to  find  how  much  of  a  New  Churchman  Channing  was.  He  was 
unquestionably  a  man  of  high  spiritual  illumination." 

A  Judge  in  one  of  our  Western  courts  writes: 

"  Others,  to  whom  I  have  loaned  the  work,  are  delighted  with  it.  1 
consider  it  the  most  valuable  of  all  your  productions;  and  it  will  bo  read 
by  people  of  other  denominations  with  more  profit  to  themselves  than  any 
work  yet  written  by  a  New  Churchman." 

11 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  E.  CLAXTON  &  CO. 


Regeneration.  By  Edmund  H.  Sears.  New  Edition, 
revised  and  enlarged.  12mo.  Extra  cloth,  $1.25. 
"The  reader  will  find  in  these  pages  no  dry  discussion  of  a  hack- 
neyed subject,  but  familiar  truth  presented  with  beauty  of  diction  in 
a  singularly  felicitous  and  impressive  manner,  and  possessing  a  fas- 
cination which  will  win  his  attention  from  the  beginning  of  the  book 
to  its  close." — Boston  Evening  Transcript. 

"Mr.  Sears'  volume  on  'Regeneration'  is  one  of  the  profoundest 
and  most  exhaustive  treatises  on  that  subject,  extant." — Arthur's 
Home  Magazine. 

"  A  work  full  of  the  deepest  and  most  nourishing  spiritual  truths 
—  truths  never  more  needed  than  they  are  at  the  present  day  and 
hour." — The  Christian  Register. 

"  Never,  we  venture  to  say,  has  the  subject  of  regeneration  been 
treated  in  a  manner  at  once  so  profoimd,  philosophic,  exhaustive, 
logical,  and  scriptural,  as  in  this  charming  volume." — Boston  New 
Church  Magazine. 

FOREGLEAMS  AND  FORESHADOWS  OF  IMMORTALITY.  By 

Edmund  H.  Sears.  12mo.  New  (and  Thirteenth)  Edi- 
tion, revised  and  greatly  enlarged.    Extra  cloth,  $1.75. 

"The  'Foregleams  of  Immortality'  will  stand  as  a  lovely  classic 
in  sacred  literature,  and  a  beautiful  inspiration  of  pure  devotional 
feeling." — Christian  Inquirer. 

"Nowhere  is  the  argument  for  immortality  more  clearly  set  forth 
than  in  this  volume.  .  .  .  The  clear  and  beautiful  style  of  the  autlior 
adds  new  power  to  the  lesson  he  has  sought  to  teach,  and  gives  added 
brightness  to  .the  page  on  which  it  is  written." — Boston  Evening 
Transcript. 

"  This  is  Mr.  Sears'  chef-cTceuvre  in  many  respects.  .  .  .  We  know 
no  religious  work  of  the  age  adapted  to  make  a  deeper,  more  prac- 
tical, and  more  gladdening  impression  on  thoughtful  and  lofty 
minds." — Christian  Register. 

"Few  books  have  pleased  me  so  much  as  ' Foregleams  of  Immor- 
tality.' It  is  full  of  beauty  and  truth.  The  writer  is  wise  from  Swe- 
denborg,  and  has  his  own  gifts  besides." — Mrs.  Elizabeth  Barrett 
Browning,  in  a  letter  to  an  American  friend. 

"The  concluding  part  of  the  book,  on  the  'Symphony  of  Relig- 
ions,' sets  forth  the  imperfect  but  yet  valuable  testimony  of  the  vari- 
ous heathen  religions  to  the  grand  truth  of  Immortality." — Chicago 
Advance, 


SWEDENBORG'S  THEOLOGICAL  WoRKS. 


PrBUSHKD  BY  THE 

AMERICilN  SWEDENeORG  PRINTIiG  ANO  POeilSKIKG  SOCIETY, 

20  COOPER  UNION,  NEW  YORK. 


This  edition  (19  volumes  uniform  octavo)  contains  all  the  theological 
works  which  Swedenborg  himself  published. 
The  whole  set,  when  delivered  at  one  time,  is  oflFered  at  $25. 
All  sales  strictly  for  cash.    A  liberal  discount  to  the  trade. 

Arcana  CoeleStia  :  the  Heavenly  Arcana  contained  in  the  Holy 
Scripture  or  Word  of  the  Lord,  unfolded;  together  with  Wonder- 
ful Things  seen  and  heard  in  the  World  of  Spirits  and  in  the 
Heaven  of  Angels.    Ten  vols.    S1.50  per  vol. 

This  work  is  an  exposition  of  the  internal  sense,  according  to  the  law 
of  correspondences,  of  the  books  of  Gtnesia  and  Exodus.  It  unfolds  the 
spiritual  significance  of  the  creation  and  fall  of  man ;  of  the  deluge, 
and  the  saving  of  Noah's  family  in  the  ark;  of  the  captivity  of  the 
chosen  people  in  Egypt,  their  delivery  thence,  their  wandering  in  the 
wildeniess,  and  the  miracles  performed  in  their  behalf ;  of  the  ritual  of 
the  Jewish  religion,  its  sacrifices  and  observances ;  and,  in  general, 
traces  the  foreshadowing  of  the  incarnation  and  glorification  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  Many  passages  from  other  parts  of  the  Word  are  also 
fully  explained. 

At  the  close  of  each  chapter,  interesting  relations  of  things  heard  and 
seen  in  the  spiritual  world  are  added,  concerning  death,  the  resurrection 
of  man,  and  his  entrance  into  eternal  life ;  the  nature  of  the  soul,  of 
heaven  and  heavenly  joy,  and  of  hell  and  its  miseries ;  concerning 
spheres  in  the  other  life  ;  the  light  and  heat  in  which  the  angels  live, 
and  their  paradisiacal  scenery ;  visions  and  dreams,  including  the  pro- 
phetical ones  recorded  in  the  Word ;  the  last  Judgment ;  memory  in 
the  other  life;  the  condition  of  the  Mohammedans  and  Heathen  in  the 
other  world;  the  Grand  Man,  or  the  whole  angelic  heaven,  and  the 
correspondence  of  the  different  societies  therein  with  the  different  organs 
of  the  human  body ;  the  origin  and  correspondence  of  diseases ;  the 
spirits  and  inhabitants  of  the  various  planets,  and  of  other  earths  in  the 
starry  heaveua. 

13 


SWEDENBOUG'S  THEOZOGICAL  WORKS. 


Apocalypse  Revealed,  wherein  are  disclosed  the  Arcana  there  fore- 
told, luhich  have  heretofore  remained  concealed.  Two  vols.  ^1.50 
per  vol. 

This  work  unfolds  the  spiritual  meaning  of  the  BooTt  of  Revelation. 
It  shows  that  the  "  Seveu  Churches  in  Asia,"  to  whom  this  prophecy  is 
said  to  be  addressed,  mean  difl'erent  classes  of  Christians  of  the  present 
day  ;  that  the  Last  Judgment  is  not  an  event  which  is  to  occur  at  some 
future  time  in  the  material  world,  but  one  which  has  already  taken  place 
in  tlie  world  of  spirits:  and  that  the  "  New  Jerusalem  coming  down 
ou(  of  heaven,"  symbolizes  a  New  Dispensation  of  truth  now  descend- 
ing into  the  minds  of  men.  Incidentally,  also,  it  explains  numerous 
passages  from  other  parts  of  the  Word.  Instructive  narratives  of  things 
seen  in  the  spiritual  world,  are  also  interspersed  between  the  chapters. 

Heaven  and  its  Wonders,  the  World  of  Spirits,  and  Hell; 

from  things  heard  and  seen.  ( Comtnonly  called  "  Heaven  and 
Hell.")  Pp.337.  ^1.25. 
This  work  unfolds  the  laws  of  the  spiritual  world,  describes  the  con- 
dition of  both  good  and  evil  spirits,  and  exhibits  the  general  arrange- 
ment of  the  inhabitants  of  both  heaven  and  hell,  and  the  scenery  by 
which  they  are  surrounded.  It  treats,  among  other  things,  of  the  form 
of  heaven,  in  general  and  in  particular ;  of  the  innumerable  societies 
of  which  the  whole  heaven  consists,  and  of  the  correspondence  between 
the  things  of  heaven  and  those  of  earth  ;  of  the  Sun  of  heaven,  and  tlie 
light  and  heat  thence  proceeding;  of  representative  appearances  in 
heaven,  and  of  the  changes  of  state  experienced  by  the  angels ;  of  their 
garments  and  habitations,  their  language  and  writings,  their  innocence 
and  wisdom,  their  government,  worship,  and  state  of  peace;  of  the 
origin  of  the  angelic  heaven,  and  its  conjunction  with  the  human  race 
by  means  of  the  Word  ;  of  the  state  of  the  heathen  and  young  children  ; 
of  the  rich  and  poor,  and  of  the  wise  and  simple,  in  heaven ;  of  the 
occupations  of  the  angels  ;  of  heavenly  joy  and  happiness;  and  of  the 
immensity  of  heaven.  It  also  treats  of  the  World  of  Spirits,  or  first 
state  of  man  after  death,  and  the  successive  changes  which  he  subse- 
quently passes  through ;  of  the  nature  of  Hell,  and  the  true  meaning 
of  the  "  devil  "  "  satan,"  "  hell-fire,"  and  the  "  gnashing  of  teeth  ;"  ot 
the  appearance,  situation,  and  plurality  of  the  hells;  and  of  the  dread- 
ful wickedness  and  direful  arts  of  infernal  spirits  ; — presenting  a  rational 
and  complete  system  of  Pneumatology,  and  one  in  perfect  harmony  with 
the  teachings  of  Holy  Scripture. 

Angelic  Wisdom  concerning  the  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine 
Wisdom.       '80.  $1.00. 

This  work  contains  the  wisdom  of  the  angels  concerning  the  opera- 
tion of  tlie  Divine  Love  and  the  Divine  Wisdom  in  the  creation  of  the 
14 


SWEDEXnOUG'S  TUrOLOGICAL  WOJtKS. 


universe,  including  man  as  the  chief  end  of  creation.  It  explains  the 
trinal  distinction  which  exists  in  all  created  things  from  the  trinity  in 
God,  and  shows  how  this  trinity  is  maniibsted  in  men  and  angels,  who 
are  images  of  the  Divine.  It  unfolds  also  the  Doctrine  of  Degrees,  and 
explains  the  three  discrete  degrees  of  the  human  mind,  showing  when 
and  hy  what  means  these  are  opened,  and  what  is  aU'ected  by  their 
opening.  It  further  reveals  the  origin  of  evil  uses,  and  the  origin,  de- 
sign and  tendency  of  good  uses. 

Angelic  Wisdom  concerning  the  Divine  Providence.  Pp-  274- 
SI. 25. 

This  work  treats  of  the  nature  and  operations  of  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence, and  unfolds  the  laws  of  order  according  to  which  God's  moral 
government  is  regulated.  It  shows  that  his  end  in  the  creation  of  the 
world  was  a  heaven  of  angels  from  tlie  human  race;  that  tiie  Divine 
Providence  works  not  at  random,  but  according  to  certain  invariable 
LAWS  which  are  here  disclosed;  that  it  is  universal,  extending  to  the 
least  things  as  well  as  to  the  greatest;  that  in  all  it  does  it  lias  respect 
to  what  is  eternal  with  man,  and  to  things  temporary  only  for  the  sake 
of  what  is  eternal ;  tliat  the  laws  of  permission  are  also  among  the  laws 
of  Divine  Providence ;  that  evils  are  permitted  ior  the  sake  of  the  end, 
which  is  salvation;  that  the  Divine  Providence  is  equally  with  the 
wicked  and  tlie  good  ;  that  the  Lord  cannot  act  against  the  laws  of  his 
Providence,  because  to  act  against  them  would  be  to  act  against  his 
Divine  Love  and  his  Divine  Wisdom,  consequently  against  Himself. 

The  True  Christian  Religion;  containing  the  Univeisal  Theology 
of  the  A^ew  Church  foretold  by  the  Lord  in  the  Apocalypse,  xxi., 
1,2;  with  the  Coronis  and  a  copious  Index.    Pp.  982.  $52.50. 

This  is  the  last  work  which  Swedenborg  published,  and  contains  a  fiill 
and  comprehensive  statement  of  the  theology  of  the  New  Church,  treat- 
ing of  God  the  Cretilor;  The  Lord,  the  Redeemer;  The  Holy  Spirit;  The 
Divine  rrinity  ;  The  Sacred  Scripture  ;  Faith,-  Charity  and  Good  Worko  ; 
Free  Will;  Repentance;  Reforinution  and  Regeneration;  li:ipvfation ; 
Biijjtism  ;  The  Holy  Supper ;  The  Consummation  of  the  Age;  the  Second 
Coining  of  the  Lord  ;  the  neto  Heaven  and  the  New  Church.  There  are, 
also,  interspersed  between  the  chapters,  relations  of  things  seen  and 
heard  in  the  spiritual  world. 

Conjugial  Love.  Pp- 472-  ^^-^s- 

1.  Conjugial  Love  end  its  chaste  delights,    2.  Adulterous  Love  and  itt 
sinful  pleasures, 

A  work  which  treats  of  the  relation  and  constitutional  diflference  of 
the  sexes;  of  the  indissoluble  nature  of  true  marriage;  of  the  nature 
and  origin  of  love  truly  conjugial ;  of  the  marriage  of  the  Lord  and  the 
15 


SWEDEXBORG'S  TBEOLOGICAL  WORKS. 


Church,  and  its  correspondence;  of  the  spiritual  union  of  married  part- 
ners in  true  marriage,  so  that  they  are  no  longer  two,  but  one  flesh ;  of 
the  change  of  the  state  of  life  with  both  sexes  by  marriage;  of  the 
causes  of  disaffection,  separations,  and  divorces  in  marriage ;  of  the 
causes  of  apparent  love,  friendship,  and  favor  in  marriage ;  and  of 
repeated  marriages.  To  which  is  added  a  treatise  on  Adulterous  or  Scor- 
tatory  Love  in  its  various  degrees,  showing  it  to'  be  in  its  nature  as  oppo- 
site to  Conjugial  Love  as  heaven  is  to  hell. 

Miscellaneous  Theological  Works.  Pp-  526.  11.50.  including, 

1.  T/ie  New  Jerusalem  and  itn  Heavenly  Doctrine.  2.  Brief  Exposition 
of  the  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church.  3.  Nature  of  the  Intercourse 
between  the  Soul  aiid  the  Body.  4.  The  White  Horse,  mentioned  in 
the  Apocalypse.  5.  The  Earths  in  the  Universe.  6.  The  last  Judg- 
ment; with  continuation. 

The  first  of  these  contains  a  summary  statement  of  the  Doctrines  of 
the  New  Church,  with  copious  references  to  the  Arcnna,  where  the  same 
doctrines  are  more  fully  unfolded.  The  second  exhibits  some  of  the 
more  important  of  these  doctrines  in  contrast  with  those  of  the  former 
Christian  Church.  The  third  treats  of  Influx,  showing  how  the  spiritual 
flows  into  the  material,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  soul  operates  upon 
the  body.  The  fourth  unfolds  the  spiritual  meaning  of  the  AVhite 
Horse  mentioned  in  the  Apocalypse,  -with  references  to  the  Arcana, 
where  the  subject  is  further  elucidated.  The  fifth  describes  the  appear- 
ance, character,  and  mode  of  life  of  the  inhabitants  of  other  earths, 
with  which  the  author  became  acquainted  through  his  intercourse  with 
spirits  from  those  earths.  The  sixth  explains  the  nature  and  manner 
of  tlie  Last  General  Judgment,  which  occurred  in  the  World  of  Spirits 
in  1757,  when  also  the  Nev/  Dispensation  known  as  the  New  Jerusalem, 
commenced. 

The  Four  Leading  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church.  Pp-  247- 

1.  The  Doctrine  of  the  Lord;  2.  of  the  Sacred  Scripture;  3.  of  Faith  ; 
4.  of  Life.    Also,  Answers  to  Nine  Questions,  chiefly  relating  to  the 
Lord,  the  Trinity  and  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Originally  published  as  separate  treatises.    They  are  elaborate  expo- 
sitions of  these  leading  Doctrines. 

Pocket  Edition  of  the  "Four  Leading  Doctrines."    Pp.  272. 

32mo;  flexible  cloth  binding,  20  cts.  Seven  copies  for  $1.00. 
Fifteen  for  $2.00,  postage  included.  Fifty  copies  for  $5.00,  ex- 
clusive of  postage.  Same  on  fine  paper,  vellum  cloth,  gilt  edges, 
30  cts. 

16 


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